


The Gates Are Closed

by FluffyAbundance



Category: Jurassic Park - All Media Types, Jurassic World Trilogy (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Gen, Some future violence, Trying to fix a plothole
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-06-14 20:40:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15397020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FluffyAbundance/pseuds/FluffyAbundance
Summary: What if the gang got rid of the hydrogen cyanide? What if Claire didn't open the cages? What will happen?Does contain Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom spoilers!





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know the full properties of hydrogen cyanide, so don't hate me too much! This is Blue's chapter, so there maybe more, there may not. Up to you guys. 
> 
> I don't own Jurassic Park or Jurassic World.

The Beginning

It was over. The intruder was dead. Blue had screamed her victory over its impaled body and run off to the outside, hoping to find Owen and the new pack again. She trotted all around the house, sniffing for them. She caught the faint whiff of a large predator and human blood, but not in sight. She did find some human things but ignored them for now.

Blue made it to the area where the bad humans had taken everyone inside, trucks still lined up. Here, the blood was strongest, along with a strange odor. Blue sneezed at it, growling. She knew, deep in her bones, that the smell was bad.

Carefully, she sniffed around, finally locating a large set of doors. The smell barely made it through the crack, and beyond that, Blue could hear all the other dinosaurs calling for help. She gave her signature call, alerting everyone inside that she could hear them. She began to pace in front of the doors, debating on how to get inside.

“Blue!”

Her head shot up at the voice of her alpha. Owen stood by a human door of wood, a strange silver canister under his arm.

 _“Owen!”_ she hooted happily. Owen inched forward.

“Blue, move over here. C’mere, girl,” he said in the voice he used when he needed her and her sisters calm, hand stretched out toward her. Cocking her head to the side, Blue moved toward the hand, snuffling in his scent. He smelled like blood and sweat, of course, but his emotions were nervous, of doing something dangerous. He didn’t have the prey smell, which meant that the danger wasn’t her. Purring, she nuzzled his hand, allowing him to move her to where he needed her.

“Good girl, Blue. Hold!” Owen commanded after leading her to a little alcove in the loading area. Blue settled down next to him, her sickle claws tapping curiously. He inched forward, going closer to the bitter smelling door.

 _“What are you doing, Owen?”_ she chirped curiously.

“Easy, Blue. Gonna set something on fire, okay? It’s a bad smell, gotta get rid of it,” Owen soothed. Blue screeched at “fire,” but only moved a couple of steps before Owen commanded, “Blue! Back up!”

Snorting, she did as he ordered. Despite not having treats to reward her, he was still Alpha, and she knew that she’ll get treats later.

Owen grabbed a small black box attached to his hip and talked to it. “I’m outside, Blue’s with me. How’s the patch job coming?”

Blue hooted _“What?”_ in surprise when the _box talked back._

“Claire and Zia are almost done. The duct tape is working, surprisingly. Soon as they get done setting up the fan and turning it to ‘on’, I’ll turn the power back on and open those doors. Hopefully, the vacuum effect will work,” the box said. Blue hissed it.

“Easy, Blue,” Owen soothed. Blue snorted in reply.

 _“Squawking boxes should not exist,”_ she grumbled to herself. The box squawked again. Blue started and hissed in retaliation.

“Okay, Owen. The fan is set up, gonna open the doors. Remember to put the gas mask on.”

“Copy that,” Owen told the box. He adjusted the silver canister in his arms before taking a black, rubber _thing_ around his neck and placing it on his face. Blue chirped curiously before the doors began to open.

Immediately, the bitter odor from inside came out in with a _whoosh_. Blue sneezed at the smell, growling. Owen fiddled with the canister a little, making it hiss, before making it shoot flames.

_WHOOOOOOOPPP!_

Immediately, the bitter scent became visible as a giant fireball. Blue screeched in surprise as the fireball went from outside to the inside, the smell becoming flame. All the dinosaurs inside roared their surprise, the flames scaring them.

The squawk box talked again. “Sprinkler system coming online now!”

Blue heard something hiss inside, and plumes of smoke bellowed out of the open doors. Immediately, she could hear the others screeching in shock.

_“It’s raining!”_

_“The humans made it rain!”_

_“Water for all!”_

Blue chirped in confusion at the noise. Owen dropped his silver canister in exchange for a red one on the wall. Moving quickly, he released a white foam on the lingering fires. Blue moved out of the alcove cautiously _,_ wary of the smoldering ashes. Owen finished putting out the remaining fires before talking to the squawk box again.

“Okay, the fires here are out. How’s the inside looking?”

“Fires are going out in here as well. Claire and Zia are snipping off their shirts now after hitting the showers.”

“Copy that. Blue and I are coming in,” Owen replied.

“We’ll need a place hide her,” the squawk box said. “The sprinkler system also alerted the fire department. We’ll have some explaining to do.”

“Gotcha. I’m gonna put her in the control room with you. Owen out.”

Owen finished talking to the squawk box and turned his attention to Blue.

“Blue! Eyes on me!” he commanded. Blue turned her attention to him.

 _“Yes?”_ she chirruped.

“And we’re moving!” Owen said, his hand in the hand sign for _move_. Blue followed him, cautiously trusting him. She might not smell the bad humans that took her, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t there. Owen began leading her through the doors, giving her words of praise. Inside, the brick walls were scorched, and the bars smelled of smoke. The sprinkler system hadn’t been turned off yet, and water continued to come from the ceiling.

All the other dinosaurs hooted and screeched as she passed; the Compies, in particular, being the most vocal.

_“How come you get to be outside?”_

_“Let us out!”_

_“We just want a taste!”_

_“SILENCE!”_ roared The Queen. Blue and the others screeched in pain from her volume. _“If anyone is getting out first, it’s me!”_

Blue snorted. _“I doubt that the humans will let us out any time soon. They know us too well.”_

The other dinosaurs screeched at that. Blue noticed Owen wincing at the noise and nuzzled his shoulder gently.

“C’mon, Blue. This way,” he said, heading toward stairs. Blue followed him, the scents from the other dinosaurs not distracting her the least. Climbing up the stairs, they reached another door, which Owen opened and ushered Blue inside.

 _“What is it with humans and doors?”_ Blue wondered.

Inside, blinking lights from metal boxes surrounded them, and little sticks and circles covered the boxes. Another human, barely out of his hatchling days, sat nervously in a chair.

“Why does she need to be with _me?_ Can’t Claire or Zia take care of her? Or Maisie! She won’t hurt Maisie, right?” he asked nervously. Blue purred at the smell of _prey_ seeping out of every pore in his body. Owen, who knew her since her hatching, tapped her tail in reprimand.

“Maisie is gonna be in here too. Where is she actually?” Owen asked.

“She went to get bathrobes for Claire and Zia for when they get out of the showers. She does have a walkie-talkie,” the other human answered.

Owen nodded and grabbed at the squawk box at his waist again, much to Blue’s displeasure. She hissed and was about to grab the squawk box when another door opened. Blue turned in surprise as Claire, Zia, and a little hatchling came in. Both Claire and Zia were in fuzzy soft scales, and Claire was limping on her right side. A wrapping was around her thigh, stained red. Carefully, Blue walked over, knowing the jumpy nature of humans, and sniffed the wrapping. She snarled as the faint scent of the intruder reached her nose.

“Hey, pretty girl. I’m okay, I’m okay,” Claire said.

“For the most part,” Zia muttered. Blue turned to her as well, sniffing carefully for any injuries as well. Satisfied, she turned her attention to the hatchling.

The hatchling didn’t seem scared of her, instead giving Blue a defiant look. Blue purred curiously.

_“Brave hatchling.”_

She began her inspection of this little one, smelling how she was female, a little scared, and very tired. In her arms were rolls of white paper that smelled of meat. Immediately, Blue’s stomach growled. The hatchling smiled, showing no teeth. Not a challenge.

“I thought you might be hungry. I’m Maisie. Nice to meet you, Blue,” the hatchling Maisie said. Blue began poking the white paper with her snout.

_“Food food food food!”_

“Maisie, you and Franklin stay in here with Blue. Claire, Zia, and I will deal with the fire department and the police,” Owen ordered.

“Then you better get down there, because they’re almost here,” the almost-hatchling Franklin said.

Almost as soon as he said that, everyone saw the flashing lights and sirens announcing the presence of emergency responders.

 

* * *

 

Franklin was still emitting prey smell, but might have been from Maisie rolling little balls of meat and feeding Blue by hand. Blue couldn’t help but gorge herself on the meatballs, and growled gently when she felt Maisie was taking too long.

“Relax, Blue. The meat isn’t going anywhere,” Maisie said from her perch on a metal box. Blue snorted at that, but stopped growling.

“Hopefully the EMTs won’t go into anyone’s cage. They’re checking Claire over now,” Franklin said from the view window. The package of meat finished, Blue walked over to the view window to look over the swarm of humans.

Some humans had soft scales of yellow and stripes, while a group of humans in dark blue were around Owen as he talked, scribbling with tiny sticks. What made Blue snarl, however, were the humans in white soft scales, with blue hands. They looked too much like the humans that were in the hatchery, with the eggs in domes and spinning blood.

She was about to spin around and go out the door when she was flicked in the nose. Granted, it was a weak flick, but it was enough to get her attention.

Turning to the source of the flick, she saw Franklin scowling at her. The prey smell he had been giving off was still there, but something else was subduing it.

“Blue, you can’t leave. Not while the cops are still down there. The guys are okay, Claire is getting checked up on and her leg will be fixed in no time. Just chill, okay?” he said.

Blue snorted in his face and wondered over Maisie, who finished unwrapping the juicy steak she brought with her. With a screech of joy, Blue snapped up the steak in a few bites.

Maisie slid down off the box to the floor, leaning against it. Blue could smell the exhaustion coming off of her. She was exhausted too.

Blue gently laid down next to her, sighing deeply. Franklin moved away from the viewing window to grab a big soft scale and draped it over Maisie. Blue shifted her head to cover Maisie’s legs. Peeking up at the hatchling’s face, Blue saw that she gave in to her exhaustion.

Blue sighed again before closing her eyes. A nap was sounding good. Before she knew it, she was asleep as well.

 

* * *

 

When she woke up, Blue saw that the human pack had moved her with them to a new room. Resting on various furniture covered in soft scales, Owen and Claire laying next to each other while Zia was on a nest of soft scales. Franklin was snoring in a soft looking chair. Blue herself was being held by Maisie, who had her head buried into Blue’s neck.

Claire and Owen were talking quietly.

“Have they found Eli Mills yet?” Claire asked.

“They found his shoes,” Owen said slowly.

Claire gave Owen a confused look.

“What about the rest of him?”

“Well, his feet were still in them,” Owen said grimly.

Claire slowly sat up. “Something ate him. Something big.”

Owen nodded.

“We need to check to see who’s missing, who got sold, and who is still here,” Claire said, getting up and beginning to pace. “We need food for everyone, bedding, volunteers to train! We can’t take care of every dinosaur by ourselves! And we need to find homes—“

“Claire,” Owen said gently. “We can figure out everything when we wake up. I’ll call Barry tomorrow, see if he wants in, a couple of others, but right now we need _sleep_.”

Claire took a deep breath before hobbling over to Owen, laying beside him again. Blue watched as Owen gathered her up in his arms, a mating scent mingling in the air. The two of them were asleep almost instantly. Blue huffed gently and snuggled into Maisie some more before sleeping again.

She had a pack again. It may be a human pack, but it was _hers_.


	2. Regent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rexy, aka The Queen, gets some human help while she's still in her cage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Queen, in her ever stubborn nature, was a complete and utter bitch to write. Hence why this may not seem the best, but it's a filler chapter so to speak. 
> 
> I don't own anything, much less Jurassic Park or Jurassic World.

The Queen snorted at the bars of the cage that contained her. Only a couple of days ago, she had been hunting with gusto on _her_ island when the humans grabbed her. Now, she was under the humans’ control again, and the feeling was outrageous. She slammed her head into the bars again, but they didn’t budge. Roaring in frustration, she stomped all around her cage, unable to pace properly.

She was The Queen! To be captured and be used by humans was undignified for her rank.

_“Stupid, weaselly humans! When I get my jaws around them, they’ll wish they never took me!”_ she snarled.

_“What about us?_ ” cried one of the Apatosaurus.

_“Yeah! We want the humans to pay too!”_ chimed a Stegosaurus. _“They took my baby!”_

_“And my mate!”_ added a Parasaurolophus.

_“I will be the only one to kill the humans!”_ The Queen roared. _“They will pay for this humiliation!”_

_“Well, could you wait until after breakfast?”_ a new voice asked. The Queen growled as the Velicoraptor called Blue trotted around a corner. _“My humans managed to find food for us.”_

_“Food! Food! Food food food!”_ the Compies cried, always hungry.

The Queen snorted. _“And what food do they have that would satisfy us?”_

Blue purred. _“A goat for you, and a pig for me. Various meat for the rest. Leaves and grain and grasses for the leaf-eaters.”_

_“We do NOT need the humans’ help!”_ roared an Allosaurus.

_“You do while you’re still in there,”_ Blue hooted playfully. The Allosaurus grumbled crankily. The Queen snarled at the free ranged carnivore. She stopped as soon as she heard the bleating of a goat, coming closer from the same corner that Blue had rounded.

“Okay, Rexy gets fed first,” a male human said as he led a goat. The Queen began to drool as the scent of goat came closer and closer. Carefully, she backed up, allowing the darkness to cover her.

The man opened the small door to the cage cautiously before shoving the goat in and closing the door. The Queen snapped the goat up before it even had a chance to bleat in shock. As she chewed, she saw four other humans carting around barrels on wheels, filled with grasses and meat. Blue hooted excitedly and rushed over to the rolling barrels.

“Blue, hold on! You’ll get breakfast in a second!” a hatchling laughed, pushing Blue’s head away gently.

_“Pig, Maisie! Pig pig pig!”_ Blue continued to hoot. The hatchling Maisie dug into the rolling barrel, grabbing something and grunting.

“Owen! Gonna need a little help here!” she called. The man who gave The Queen the goat, Owen, went over and helped the hatchling heave what looked like a pig out of the barrel. But it didn’t look like a pig that The Queen had seen on the island. This one was black and fuzzy, not pink and smooth.

Blue must have had the same thought because she snorted in surprise.

“It’s okay, Blue. It’s not what you’re used to, but it’s still a pig,” Owen assured. Blue sniffled it before taking a bite.

_“Pig!”_ she screeched before digging into the carcass. Owen and Maisie dropped the carcass as Blue continued to eat. Around her, The Queen could hear the cheers of the other dinosaurs as they were fed as well.

_“Food!”_

_“Bananas! My favorite!”_

_“Oh, they have apples! I want the apples! Don’t give_ her _the apples!”_

_“Human! I demand the lettuce!”_

The humans carefully divided up among the cages, giving each dinosaur a portion of food. It took a little while, but everyone was fed. The humans sat down next to the empty rolling barrels.

“Well, everyone’s fed,” another hatchling sighed.

“Yeah, but we also need to clean all the cages too,” a red furred human said.

“We need a lot of people to help take care of everyone,” another human added.

“I already called Barry; he said that he’ll be here in a couple of days,” Owen said. “And another old friend said that she’ll be here tomorrow. Claire, anyone from the DPG have any dinosaur experience?”

“There are some, but they’ll probably want to work with the herbivores,” the red furred Claire said. “Zia, can you think of anyone who would work with any of the carnivores?”

The remaining unnamed human said, “I have a couple of names, but I don’t know if they’ll even go near these guys.”

“I can take care of Rexy,” Claire offered. The other humans stared at her. “What?”

“You’ll take care of Rexy?” Zia asked. The Queen snorted at the uncertain scents coming from the humans. She can take of herself! Once she got out, that is.

“Yeah! I mean, I ran Jurassic World, I can take care of Rexy and run the DPG at the same time,” Claire said. The other humans turned to Owen, who shrugged.

“If you want to, Claire,” he said. She nodded. The Queen could smell the determination from her.

“I want to,” she said firmly. The Queen’s interest had been peaked.

So, this human wanted to take care of The Queen? Let’s see how well she does.

* * *

The next morning, The Queen awoke to find her cage clean, and bedding placed down, thick enough to cause no sores. A goat was grazing on it, and she snatched it up in one gulp. Chewing her breakfast, she saw Claire working on the grass-eater cages, scooping up dung and tossing it in the rolling barrels. Around her, everyone else was eating as well, with the humans cleaning up cages. The humans took the rolling barrels full of dung down the aisle, where they did something to empty the rolling barrels only to fill them up with dung again. This process continued until all the cages were clean and fresh bedding put down.

Claire disappeared as soon as the cages were clean and reappeared with a strange rectangle that she opened and began to make _tap-tap-tap_ noises with. She sat with her legs under her, her side to the cage. The Queen quickly became bored by this. What was more important than _her?_

The Queen slammed her head against the bars to scare the human, but she didn’t even flinch! Instead, Claire lifted her hand up to The Queen, barely past the bars. The Queen huffed in surprise. Why was the human not scared of her? Was she too old to be scary anymore?

Growling, The Queen sniffed the hand. It smelled almost too sweet, almost covering the smell of human. Huffing, she turned away from the hand, watching as Claire took her hand back and resumed the tap-tapping noise on the open rectangle.

Blue walked over to Claire, blood on her muzzle, and looked over her shoulder.

_“What is that?”_ she hooted to Claire.

“Hey, Blue. Did you have a good breakfast?” Claire asked, still paying attention to the rectangle.

_“That was a good pig, but what is that?”_ Blue hooted again, nuzzling Claire’s shoulder. Claire patted Blue’s bloody muzzle and said, “Now, we need at least three animals a day per carnivore, depending on how big the meal is. The herbivores need at least fifty pounds of vegetation a day. We do have limited funds though.”

The human trailed off at that, playing with her lower lip with her teeth. Blue nuzzled her again.

“Thanks, Blue. Are you confident in me? Did Owen tell you what I was back at Jurassic World?” Claire said.

_“I’m confident because you care about us,”_ Blue purred. “ _I saw you fight the intruder. Very protective.”_

The Queen inhaled Claire’s scent after Blue said that, ignoring the too-sweet scent she had on to disguise herself. The little Velociraptor was right; the human was concerned about all the dinosaurs around her, and she was worried. The Queen was confused. The only worry that she should have was when to eat and when to enforce her authority. But protective? She couldn’t see that in this human. The Queen snorted in disbelief.

_“Protective?”_

Blue turned to her and hooted, _“Yes! She distracted the intruder when it cornered Owen and the hatchling!”_  

The Queen snorted. _“I’ll believe this protective nature of hers when I see it.”_

* * *

The Queen watched as Claire worked throughout the morning on the rectangle. Blue decided that she and Owen needed to map the area, and Maisie had gone with them. The human Zia was entering and exiting the grass-eaters’ cage with a latched box, staying in at random amounts of time. The Queen didn’t know where the hatchling Franklin was.

Owen, Blue, and hatchling Maisie had come back in time to give everyone more food. As the rest of the dinosaurs ate, the humans had something to eat as well. The hatchling Franklin appeared from his hiding spot to eat as well.

“What time does your friend arrive?” Claire asked, the open rectangle on one side of her, another rectangle with spirals on its side on her other side.

“She should be here soon,” Owen said. “I asked her what sort of dinosaur she would like to take of, and she asked about the carnivores.”

“Any one specifically?” Zia asked.

“She said that she’ll decide when she got here,” Owen reassured. The Queen heard something outside, a high pitch whine mixed with a light rumble. Blue and the humans must have heard it as well because their heads snapped to the doors.

“Is that her?” Franklin asked, his scent becoming nervous. Owen snorted, his scent relaxed, if a little…exasperated?

“Yeah, that’s her,” he confirmed. “We need to move though. She’s a bit…wild.”

“Wild?” Franklin squeaked. The other humans and Blue had already moved out of the way, and Owen had to drag Franklin to the side with him. The noise grew louder, and various dinosaurs cried out in alarm.

_“What is that?”_

_“It flies!”_

_“Flying human!”_

_“Go away!”_

The Queen peeked out between the bars of her cage to see a human perched on a flying vehicle that was _landing_ on two wheels. It continued down the aisle at a fast pace before screeching to a stop, a horrible smell coming from the wheels. The human dismounted from the vehicle, and removed the _thing_ around its head. Green and light blue fur fell out of the thing, and the human fluffed it up with her hand. A small amount of her fur was light fuzz against the side of her head.

“What a ride!” the human claimed, laughing. Blue immediately went to “attack” position, screaming and spreading her claws out. The human merely called over Blue’s head, “Owen! Good to see you alive, man! Can you reassure your baby girl here that we’re chill?”

“Blue! Stand down!” Owen shouted, rushing forward to place himself between Blue and the new human, hand up.

_“She’s a flying intruder!”_ Blue screeched, snapping her teeth.

“Hey, hey! Back up!” Owen commanded. Blue hissed and grumbled before seemingly backing off. The Queen noticed the Velociraptor’s tail constantly twitching and her standing between the new human and the human pack. The new human’s scent didn’t change at all, still hyped up and confident.

“A ride through the mountains and now being yelled at by a raptor? Owen, my man, you lead an interesting life!” the human laughed.

“What other life is there?” Owen laughed as well, wrapping his arms around the human, who returned the action. They thumped each other’s back before releasing each other. The Queen looked on curiously. Was that some sort of greeting response? She knew that humans had different greetings for each other, so which one was that? The human smelled nothing like Owen.

“Everyone, this is Becky. She’s kinda my sister from another mister. Becky, this is Claire, my girlfriend, Zia, Maisie, and Franklin,” Owen introduced, pointing each human out in turn. The new human, Becky, waved her hand in a greeting.

“Hey there!” she chirped.

“We actually both were in the military, but _someone_ decided to go to the Marines instead of the much, _much_ better Navy SEALs,” Owen explained.

“Yeah, yeah. My Marine training still tops your silly SEAL exercises,” Becky said, her body language playful. The Allosaurus snorted and growled, and The Queen could hear her moving closer to the bars. Becky had whipped around at the noise and her eyes locked onto the Allosaurus cage. Her scent changed from excited to wonder, a slight challenge mingling in. Claire cleared her throat, stepping forward.

“I would like to speak with you about your experiences with animals. Owen mentioned that you would like to work with one of the carnivores, but I would like to decide which ones would be best for you,” she said, taking charge. The Queen was impressed with how fast the red furred female took charge. Perhaps she was worthy of The Queen.

“Yes, ma’am,” Becky purred, her eyes still on the Allosaurus.

* * *

The Queen wasn’t sure _how_ Claire did it, but Becky managed to smoothly immerse herself into the care of the dinosaurs. She didn’t complain about the dung like Franklin did, helped Zia when she asked, and managed somewhat to get in Blue’s good graces. When asked, the Velociraptor muttered something about _“eggs.”_

The Allosaurus had growled every time Becky passed her cage. The Queen growled to the young theropod to knock it off, but she didn’t. The juvenile even had snapped at the human! The Queen could hear her muttering about _“stupid human”_ and _“if she even tries to get close to me, I’ll eat her.”_

Now that night had arrived, the humans and Blue retreated to wherever their dens were, probably to rest. Everyone else was bedding down as well. Nearby, The Queen could hear the Allosaurus muttering to herself about new human Becky. The Queen merely snorted and continued to make her nest before sleep.

The next morning, The Queen’s cage was once again clean, and new bedding put down. Another goat was in with her as well, and she gobbled it up without a second thought. Claire was sitting in front of her cage again, focusing on a mess of papers and her open rectangle. She was muttering to herself, jolting down random things and tap-tapping the open rectangle.

Finally, she sighed and held her hand up again, towards The Queen. The Queen lowered her massive head to take in the almost sickeningly sweet perfume that covered Claire’s natural scent. She growled but got a little bit closer this time, not quite touching the human’s hand. Then she moved away, and Claire dropped her hand back into her lap.

“Why the long face?”

The Queen and Claire looked over to see Becky striding over, her arms bare and showing off her patterns. Apparently, humans had camouflage as well. Claire sighed as Becky squatted down, resting her arms on her knees.

“I’ve been doing the accounting and logistics for feeding all the dinosaurs, and the numbers aren’t good. We’ll barely be able to make it to three months, I think,” Claire explained.

“Is it because of all the livestock we need for the carnivores?” Becky asked.

“Mostly, yes. But the herbivores are not easy to feed either, since they’re typically grazers,” Claire agreed. The Queen was startled. Will they run out of food?

“What about roadkill?” Becky asked.

“Excuse me?” Claire asked, her scent changing from tired and worried to surprise and a little outraged.

“Fresh roadkill. No more than a day or two old, and we test the meat for any bacteria or viruses. And we chop off the heads,” Becky explained. “It would take care of the meat problem. As for fruits and veggies and all that green stuff, why not call up some produce companies and ask for their rejected produce? They’ll just waste it anyways, or ship it elsewhere.”

The Queen and Claire stared at the new human in amazement. Becky shifted uncomfortably under their gaze.

“What?”

“Okay, the produce idea is _brilliant_ ,” Claire praised. “But how are we supposed to get the roadkill? Franklin may be our IT guy and can post something on social media, but then we’ll need to ship all the carcasses here, and I don’t think people will want to spend a lot of money to feed dinosaurs meat.”

Becky sighed and finally leaned back enough to sit down on her tail end. “Well, it’s an idea. Now I know why zoos and aquariums ask for donations.”

“It’s a good idea,” Claire soothed. “But one that needs all the kinks worked out. I’ll start making calls to produce companies about their rejects. Have you decided which dinosaur you want to take care of before Owen and Blue get back with Barry?”

Becky nodded and said confidently, “The Allosaurus. I’ll have a cot or something set up so that she gets used to my scent. She’s still pretty young, so I think I can build something up with her.”

“Guess Barry will have to deal with the Carnotaurus or Dilophosaurus, the poor man,” Claire said.

“He snoozes, he loses,” Becky said, a hint of laughter in her voice and her scent. The Queen snorted and walked away from the conversation. Who worries over buying food?

* * *

That night, Becky began to build her own nest. The Queen had been peeking through the bars again as the human chose a spot against the brick wall, right between the Allosaurus and an Ankylosaurus. Owen, Blue, and Maisie watched as she unfolded metal bars and fabric into a flat surface with a covering on top.

“Are you sure you don’t want a bed?” Owen asked, concern scent leaking from him. Maisie had concern and curious scents coming from her, but Blue seemed unconcerned. The Queen could smell Becky’s nervousness, but she was confident as well. What was she planning?

“I’ll be okay. I just need to start building a relationship with the Allosaurus,” she said. “Though if you hear a bunch of roaring tonight, it’s fine!”

_“Great. Now we’ll never sleep tonight,”_ joked a Sinoceratops.

“What are you planning on doing, you crazy Marine?” Owen asked, narrowing his eyes. Becky finished setting up the base of her nest with a grunt before stuffing the insides with long soft scales.

“ _I_ am planning on having a nice little shouting match with Miss Allosaurus here,” Becky said from inside the nest.

“Why?” Maisie asked.

“Because I need to stand my ground with her, and the best way to do that is through volume. I’m not gonna take any flak from her, and she needs to know that. I have treats at the ready for when the dust settles,” Becky grunted.

Owen sighed and said, “All right. But you better be up in time to clean cages before everyone wakes up. We’ve been having a good streak so far with the routine.”

“No worries, Alpha!” Becky called.

“And if you aren’t up, I’m sending in Barry with an ice bucket,” Owen added. Becky quickly backed out of her nest, her scent changing to horror and submission. The Queen had only seen Barry the Frenchman human once, and the dark human looked very serious.

“You _wouldn’t_ ,” she whispered.

Owen merely smiled and walked away, calling over his shoulder, “Don’t die!”

Maisie followed him, Blue soon after but not before sneakily taking an egg from Becky. Becky finished setting up her nest before sitting in front of the Allosaurus cage. She just sat and stared, barely moving. Her scent was muted, but confident. The Queen could hear the Allosaurus pacing its cage, growling. Becky continued to sit and stare.

Finally, the Allosaurus stopped pacing and roared. What The Queen didn’t expect was for Becky to jump up and _roar back_. Granted, it was a weak little roar, but the principle was still there. The Allosaurus roared again and Becky responded in kind. When the Allosaurus snarled and growled, Becky hissed and shouted. The human seemed to have a conversation with the Allosaurus, although The Queen couldn’t make heads or tails of it. After a while, the two shouting partners were breathing heavily and glaring at each other. Becky made the first move, dumping a bucket of meat in the Allosaurus’s cage. The Allosaurus snorted and gobbled the meat up, grumbling, _“Fine. You can come in to clean.”_  

Both human and dinosaur moved away from each other, Becky to her nest and the Allosaurus to a corner of her cage. Almost simultaneously, they flopped down in their respective spots. The Queen shook her head at such antics.

She didn’t even realize that she fell asleep when she woke up to the chirping of a Velociraptor. Blearily opening her eyes, The Queen glared at Blue.

_“What do you want?”_ she growled.

_“The hatchling had a bad dream and slipped into Owen and Claire’s nest with them,”_ Blue chirped. _“There was not enough room for all of us.”_

_“Why do you stay with the humans?”_ The Queen growled. _“They have caused us pain, used us, tricked us! Yet you can stay with them?”_

_“They are pack,”_ Blue hooted. _“And they need help. Who else worries about food, or land, as much as humans? They see big lands, but they don’t see the butterflies on leaves, or enjoy a nice sunspot to bask in. They constantly need to move, with no rest. To top it off, they put themselves in unnecessary danger! Remember Becky flying in on her vehicle? Or the humans who captured us despite our island exploding? Humans need us to show them how life should be.”_

The Queen growled at that. Blue flicked her tail and began to walk away. She stopped at the corner and causally growled, _“I learned a new word from Maisie today. Regent. It’s the title of a Beta who cares for a pack until the new Alpha is ready. I believe that Claire may see herself as your Regent.”_

With that, Blue continued on out of sight. The Queen snorted. Whoever heard of such nonsense?

* * *

The Queen was chomping down on another goat when they arrived. Big bulky vehicles of white and carrying disks on their backs, various colorations on their sides, all carrying well-dressed humans in their fronts. She chewed thoughtfully at the sight. Were these more humans that Claire called for help?

Becky, the latest addition to Blue’s human “pack” after several eggs and reassurances from Owen, had just finished cleaning the Allosaurus cage while she had something called a “deer” when she noticed the herd of vehicles as well. Her scent immediately changed from “relaxed” to “nervous.”

“Uh oh,” she muttered, then grabbed the squawk box at her shoulder. “Claire, come in.”

The squawk box answered, “Claire here. What is it, Becky? Owen and I are trying to determine if the land around his cabin is able to handle all the dinosaurs.”

“News reporters are at our gates! Sound the alarm! Wait, do we have an alarm?” Becky said to the squawk box.

“Shit,” said the squawk box in Owen’s voice. “No one is public ready, and Blue will definitely not like them intruding on her turf.”

“I’ll be right down, Becky. Just go stall them for now,” the squawk box added in Claire’s voice.

“Stall? With _what?_ I don’t exactly have a starling personality!”

“Just don’t let them get past the pteranodon cages!” the squawk box ordered in Claire’s voice before becoming dead.

Becky stared at the tiny squawk box at her shoulder. _“Stall?”_

The Queen growled at Becky, who hadn’t noticed the now rapidly growing well-dressed human herd. Becky jumped and darted toward a cage with a Dilophosaurus in it.

“Barry! Barry, we got news reporters! Claire said that they can’t go past the pteranodon cages!” she cried.

Barry immediately exited the cage, making sure that it was securely closed behind him, before yanking down the soft scale around his mouth and nose and yanking up his protective eye scales. He growled, “ _Merde_.”

Together, the two humans rushed to the new humans.

_“What are news reporters?”_ asked a baby Ankylosaurus. Another baby piped up, _“What are those things that those humans are carrying?”_

_“Why do they smell funny?”_ an Apatosaurus moaned.

_“What are those shiny things that the females are wearing?”_ a Gallimimus asked, a little too interested. Other dinosaurs began to ask too many questions, looking to The Queen or the humans for an explanation.

Barry and Becky were immediately assaulted by human noise, each human jabbering over the other like Compies. The Queen snarled at the noise, at how Barry and Becky were trying to herd the “news reporters” toward the middle, but were hindered by the constant pushing and shoving. Humans carrying black boxes with various circles escaped Becky and Barry’s herding, their backs to the cages. A very dangerous move, especially with those vines attached to the boxes. The stupid humans hoisted their boxes on their shoulders, keeping their eyes on a rectangle that showed Barry and Becky and the “news reporters.” The noise was deafening, worse than when the island was alive with humans watching the Mosasaur eat.

Finally, The Queen roared in frustration.

Everyone became silent, from the peeping Compy to the herd of humans.

“Wow,” whispered Becky, while Barry nodded mutely beside her.

At that moment, the doors that open and close at random times dinged and opened. The Queen immediately felt a shift in energy as Claire entered the aisle. The well-dressed news reporters began shifting nervously, all eyes on Claire. Barry and Becky shifted unconsciously, their eyes on Claire, but ducking their heads and exposing their throats to her in submission.

The Queen couldn’t blame them. She almost felt the urge to do the same. Claire was dressed as nicely as the news reporters, her soft scales a deep blue, but the way she carried herself said that messing with her was a _bad_ idea.

Her tall talons clicking, she only stopped to give quick pets to those who wanted them. The Queen had lowered her head to Claire’s hand to smell the confidence seeping from her, and the iron control in her hand. Yes, those news reporters were going to regret coming.

The Queen watched as Claire stalked toward the news reporters, a true hunter.

“May I help you?” she asked politely. The Queen was sure that the temperature went down a bit around the woman.

“We heard that someone had dinosaurs smuggled here; was that you?” a news reporter asked. Claire gave the news reporter a challenge smile, all teeth and no lips.

“Are the cameras on?” She asked. Several humans shifted uneasily.

“No,” was her answer. A Parasaurolophus began to sniff one of the grey fuzzy things on sticks. The Queen gave a subsonic rumble in warning, and the Parasaurolophus quickly retreated.

“Then you wouldn’t mind setting up a meeting with me at a scheduled time that doesn’t involve scaring the dinosaurs more or the loading bay,” Claire said, full teeth smile still on her face.

The news reporters shifted uncomfortably, then one by one, they left. Claire kept the cold attitude, glaring at any intruder that wanted to linger. The Queen noticed a news reporter and one of the black box humans hanging back, right by her cage. There was a grey fuzzy stick thing too, connected to the black box with a vine. The Queen eyed the vine with interest, especially with how close it was to her bars.

“Holy fuck, Claire,” Becky breathed after all the other humans left. “That was frosty.”

“Miss Dearing, may I have a moment of your time?” The news reporter’s words barely made it out of his mouth when The Queen lowered her head and snapped up the vine. She yanked her head back, dragging the black box and fuzzy stick with her. The stupid humans screamed and scrambled away. The Queen kept an eye on Claire as she tossed the black box and stick into her mouth and snapped her jaws shut. Claire’s scent didn’t change even as the human things made a satisfying _crunch_.

“I believe that you won’t be able to,” Claire answered the news reporter, cold satisfaction in her voice. “Now leave.”

The news reporter and the stupid humans ran as fast as they could.

Barry chuckled. “Now you know why she was in charge of Jurassic World.”

The Queen realized that Claire had been on the island before. She was even in charge of everything that grew there, from the embryos to the new human structures. She even took charge when the White One had arrived, releasing The Queen from her cage.

_The raptor was right_ , The Queen thought. _Claire_ is _my Regent._ With that, she released a powerful roar, declaring Claire to be followed as they would her. Claire didn’t even flinch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like or love it? Comment!


	3. Nuthin' But Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not just the carnivores who decide who they decide which human they want. A little baby found a new playmate in a certain nervous wreck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own anything! 
> 
> Also, I know that this chapter is a little short, but I have another chapter to make up for this length.

The baby was _highly_ upset. The predator that the humans called _Blue_ had called the things in the wall _doors_ , but the little trike was sure that they were alive. They keep opening and closing on their own, and the action was scaring her. Granted, this entire place was scary, with no trees and grass, no softness to lay and hide, but living doors were another issue that she could not handle.

Blue had assured that the humans would fix the doors, but the reassurance didn’t help. _Humans_ , she said, _were clever, but needed help in so many ways._ And one human, dark and short, with weird things on his face, _was in the living doors_. He had a strange square in his arms, with vines leading to a part of the living doors.

The baby trike pawed at the bars, nudging and hitting them, searching for a way to get out. Her mother snorted at her.

_“What are you doing, little one?”_

The baby continued to look for an opening. _“That human needs to be saved!”_

_“Why?”_

_“Because those doors are horrible and he’s right by them!”_

_“The doors are not evil,”_ her mother snorted again. She tossed her frilled head and looked down at her hatchling. The baby didn’t listen, focusing on the bar by the wall. It was wider than the other bars, and she was able to stick her head through! Wriggling quickly, she popped out on the other side while grunting, _“Yes, they are!”_

The other dinosaurs were watching the whole exchange, and began to hoot and call between each other.

_“Hatchling on the loose!”_

_“Call Blue’s human!”_

_“Call any human!”_

_“Where’s the Regent?”_

The baby trike turned to the muttering human. He was outside the doors! This was perfect! Now she can herd him away!

She charged down the hall, ignoring everyone’s pleas for her to go back to her mother. Her mother was bellowing, angry that her baby was exploring without her. The only dinosaur who wasn’t yelling was the Allosaurus, who was focused on her human’s hands and the pieces of meat in them.

As the baby trike passed The Queen, the old carnivore roared, _“He doesn’t need rescuing! This is not what we meant!”_

Four feet away. Three feet. The human finally looked up from his square and vines to see what the commotion was about...only to be knocked down by the baby trike.

“Ooof!” the human grunted. The square went somewhere across the floor, but the baby didn’t care. She began to pull at the human’s soft scales, pulling him away from the doors.

“Hey, hey! Stop that! Claire! Owen! Zia! Help!” The human began to thrash around, trying to escape. The baby grunted as he moved about, still pulling him away with her beak. When she thought that they were safe enough away, she flopped on top of him, right on his middle.

“Oh-hooowww!” the human groaned in pain.

 _“I saved you!”_ the baby trike chirruped. A dismissive snort from behind her ruined her victory.

 _“You stopped him from fixing the door,”_ the Allosaurus scoffed, forgoing her human for the commotion outside. Her human was opening the little gate, moving quickly, and closing it behind her.

“Easy, Shanti,” the human said in a calm manner. She walked over to the baby and the human she had pinned down. “You okay, Franklin?”

The dark human grunted as he tried to push the baby trike off of him.

“No, I’m not! Help me out here!”

“Okay, okay. Hold on.” The lighter human scooped up the baby trike with a grunt. The baby squawked in surprise, waving her legs around in an attempt to be put down. By that time, Blue and her human, the Regent, and the human hatchling had thundered down the stairs.

“Jesus, Franklin! What were you thinking, letting that little guy out?” Blue’s human scolded. Blue herself hissed at the baby.

 _“How did you get out?”_ she snapped. The dark human, Franklin, was protesting about how he was minding his own business when he was tackled.

 _“I was saving the human from the live doors!”_ the baby trike bleated.

 _“You mean taking him away from the doors that he was trying to fix so they would stop being alive unless the humans tell it to?”_ Blue snarled.

The baby trike stopped moving. _“But he was in danger...”_

 _“He wasn’t.”_ Blue snapped. The baby trike didn’t have time to answer before the Allosaurus’s human began to move.

“Okay, little lady. Your mama is pitching a fit, so stay in here,” the human female scolded lightly before putting her down and closing the small gate behind her.

The baby’s mother began to sniff her all over, snorting at the smell of humans. The baby trike shook off her mother and bounded over to the spot where she escaped. Franklin was heading back over to the doors. A quick wriggle, and she was back outside the cage and bouncing over to him.

“Seriously, little girl?” Strong hands picked her up before she could move any farther. Looking up, she saw that Blue’s human had picked her up this time. She gave a groan of disappointment as he turned back to the cage and placed her inside.

“This is gonna be like that little baby rhino like half a decade ago. Kept getting past his keeper.”

“Zip it, Becky.” 

* * *

 

The baby trike huffed, pouting as best as her little beak could allow. The humans were quick to fix a bit of wood to prevent her from escaping again. But she had a plan on getting back out. That Franklin human was fun! She wanted to play with him some more. Franklin started to call her “Trouble”.

She had been practicing her charge all week. Getting closer and closer to the board before tossing her three horned head and running to her mother. But today was the day! She was gonna play with Franklin again!

Trouble charged the board again, hitting it full on with her head. It buckled, but didn’t break. Her mother shook her head from her laying spot and moaned, _“Trouble, you are not going out there again.”_

Trouble huffed, _“But I wanna play!”_

_“The humans gave us little things to play with; play with them.”_

_“But I wanna play with Franklin!”_ Trouble whined, pawing at the bars. Currently, the young human was by the Gallimimus cage, cleaning up the floor. The humans didn’t seem to worry too much about certain dinosaurs, like the Gallimimus or the Apatosaurus, but they still smelled nervous when dealing with everyone else. They smelled _extra_ nervous with the Compies, who constantly jabbered about being let out.

Trouble charged the board again, this time cracking it. She chirruped happily before backing up and charging. The board broke, and her head slipped through the bars. Shanti’s human Becky whirled around from the Ankylosaurus cage, her strange colored fur flopping around. She groaned.

“Franklin! Your little play buddy broke the board!” she called down the aisle.

“She’s not my play buddy!” Franklin called back, stepping away from the Gallimimus. Trouble chirruped and tried to slip through the bars. She didn’t budge.

_“Uh oh.”_

_“Stuck, little hatchling?”_ The Queen rumbled, amused. Trouble began to squirm, whimpering.

“Hey, Trouble. Easy. Don’t you know it’s almost bedtime?” Franklin asked as he knelt down in front of her. She whimpered again, wanting her mother or anyone to help her become unstuck. Franklin slowly eased his hands around her head and pushed her back in gently.

Trouble tossed her head and flopped down next her mother, pouting. Her mother nuzzled her gently, Franklin looking on before Becky walked over.

“Franklin,” she hissed. “Claire said that Owen used some sort of hard-top to escape and cause a distraction, right?”

Franklin’s scent changed sharply. He threw a look over his shoulder. “Yeah, and it’s called Stygimoloch. Why?”

A clang echoed throughout the basement. Trouble perked up as Becky’s scent began to leak fear. And it wasn’t predator fear, but the fear everyone felt when the volcano exploded.

“Because she just went back into her cage like her tail was on fire, and that was her closing the goddamn _door_ ,” Becky answered. Now Franklin’s scent was changing, taking on the same uncontrolled fear that Becky was emitting. Every dinosaur was calling to the newly arrived Stygimoloch, trying to see what the new world was like. She wasn’t saying anything except for one thing.

_“Something sick is coming.”_

That got everyone going. As everyone was calling out, asking what was coming, Becky moved slowly down the aisle, towards the open doors. Trouble and her mother peeked out of their cage, along with everyone else.

“Franklin.” Becky’s voice sounded upset, like the time the Regent discovered that Blue chewed on her shoes and yelled at Owen. “Get in the Triceratops cage. _Now._ ”

Franklin looked shocked. “What?”

“Now!” Becky snarled, her fear scent becoming stronger. Franklin quickly opened the human sized door and slammed the bar back into place. Becky touched her squawk box while moving to Shanti’s cage.

“Barry. You goddamn better be up,” she snarled.

“I’m up. What is it?” the Frenchman replied.

“Get down to the zoo. And bring your shotgun; something chased that Styggy back here and she’s jumping out of her scales!” Becky said as she opened the cage to Shanti and slipping inside. Shanti snuffled at the scared human and received a harsh tap for her troubles.

“Don’t even think about it. No one else will give you muzzle scratches,” she scolded. Shanti snorted and muttered under her breath about “ _suspicious humans_ ” and “ _just curious._ ”

Trouble was curious about the fear smell coming from Franklin as she tugged at his soft scaled leg _._

 _“Franklin! Franklin Franklin! What is it? What is it?”_ she chirruped.

 _“Shush little one! Use your ears!”_ The Queen snarled. Trouble turned to her, Franklin’s soft scale leg still in her beak. Listening carefully, she could hear the _click-click-click_ of something padding down the aisle. Peeking around the corner, she saw a strange, four-legged creature. It was covered in short fur all over, even its tail, and it walked funny, like it wasn’t sure how to walk. All the dinosaurs were silent as it walked down, some even moving farther into their cages. Trouble could smell the sickness from it.

Carefully, she hooted at it from around the soft scale. It stopped in front of their cage, slowly turning its head. Drool leaked out of its mouth, even though its mouth was shut. Its eyes were unfocused until they sharpened. On her.

It lunged at the cage, snapping and snarling, drool flying. Trouble squealed and dropped the soft scale in favor of hiding behind her mother. Franklin had the same idea, pressing himself against her mother’s side as the thing continued to snap and bite at the bars.

Trouble squealed again and hide her face into her mother’s side. Franklin was scared and trembling as the creature continued its assault on the bars.

_BASOOOOWWWW!_

The creature dropped dead, sliding down the bars to rest in a pool of blood. Barry appeared from the catwalk, a rifle in his hand. Becky immediately let herself out of Shanti’s cage.

“No one touch it. Barry, get me some thick gloves and then go get Zia. She needs to do a biopsy on this coyote’s brain. I think it had rabies.” she barked, her shoulders tense.

“Rabies?” Franklin squeaked. Trouble pressed against his leg, still scared. Her mother rumbled, trying to comfort her baby.

“Looks like it,” Becky said grimly. “And I don’t know if we can feed it to any of the carnivores, even without its head.”

“We’ll just burn it, with the Indoraptor when the time comes,” Barry said as Zia, Claire, and Maisie came charging down the stairs.

“What happened?” Claire demanded. Trouble shuffled away from the angry scent coming from the Regent.

“You guys know that dinosaur you released? Well, she came back with a sick coyote on her tail,” Becky said, pointing to the dead animal. “Thank God Barry was still awake.”

Barry had walked away and came back with a pair of gloves, handing them to Becky, who slipped them on with ease. He turned to Zia and said, “Can you check to see if it actually had rabies?”

“Yeah, I just need its head,” Zia said. “Becky, bring that to the labs while I get suited up for an autopsy.”

“Aye, aye,” Becky replied before hefting up the dead coyote with a grunt.

“Where’s Franklin?” Claire asked.

“I’m in here!” he called, moving toward the door. Trouble’s mother didn’t like that. She was still in full mama mode, and no one was going to leave her protection.

Franklin yelped as Trouble’s mother nudged him away from the gate, causing him to stumble a little. Claire and Barry rushed over to the gate.

“Uh, guys? Little help?” Franklin asked nervously.

“Stop acting scared. She’s still in protection mode from the coyote, so she’s going to see anything beyond this gate as a threat,” Barry ordered. The Regent looked thoughtful.

“Actually, staying in there might be the best idea for you,” she drawled. Trouble perked up.

_“Yay!”_

“What?” Franklin yelped.

“She’s not going to let you out, she needs to calm down, and we need to calm everyone else down as well. Just stay in there, spend the night with them, and in the morning she’ll let you out,” Claire said.

“We’ll bring you some creature comforts!” Becky called, amusement in her voice. Trouble could barely contain herself with glee. They were gonna play all night!

Franklin groaned and walked over to a wall, sliding down to sit. Trouble’s mother waited a little bit more before snorting and laying down nearby. Trouble, on the other hand, found one of the round toys that the humans placed in their cage and rolled it over to Franklin. The danger had passed, what was there to worry?

 _“Play! Play! Play!”_ she chirruped happily. Franklin and her mother seemed to exchange looks before groaning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment down below what you think!


	4. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The only dinosaur that ate Eli Mills was a Carnotaurus who escaped during Claire and Owen's distraction with Styggy on the loading dock. So what happened to her while everyone was still inside? Well, you're about to find out. 
> 
> Also known as "How to Turn a Carnotaurus Into a Scaredy-cat."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Jurassic World, the Oakland Zoo, or any other things that pop up. If there are any similarities between any of the real keepers and the character Nick, I apologize in advance. 
> 
> Also, geese are dicks and the Law of the Jungle from The Jungle Book (Kipling's book, no movies) influenced a portion of this chapter.

The Carnotaurus was on the trail of fresh prey. It sniffed the ground again, picking up the mammalian scent: young, split hoofed, fast. She growled and continued to follow the scent, pushing tree branches out of her way. She had scouted this area after eating the human, making her way past the mountainous forest to an area where it was relatively flat. Yes, there were still trees, but they were no longer hindering her when she walked. There were areas of black stone that cut across the land, but she tried to avoid them after her feet started to blister from the heat.

She continued her hunt, finally coming upon a small herd of the creatures. They smelled mostly female, but a few males with branch-like horns on their heads were there as well. The Carnotaurus sat back on her heels, waiting. She hunted these creatures before, and usually able to snatch a couple in her jaws when she ambushed them. The trick was to get as close as possible before charging. Her horns made excellent tools in stunning them as well before she devoured them.

Carefully, she approached the herd, keeping an eye on two on the edge of the herd that seemed a little sick. Young, yes, but sick. One was limping and the other had a wheezing sound when it breathed.

The wind shifted, carrying her scent straight to the herd. One male’s head shot straight up, ears flicking back and forth, eyes weary. She charged with a mighty roar, trying to scare them into freezing for a few crucial seconds. No luck; the herd bolted in different directions, and her tail couldn’t compensate. She would have to go after one of the healthier prey.

The prey leaped and bound over logs and bushes. The Carnotaurus just plowed right through the forest. She was reaching her peak speed when the prey leapt out onto one of the black stone rivers. She followed, fearing no human vehicle at this time of night.

She barely sprinted two steps before lights filled her vision and something slammed into her side. All she could remember hearing was a loud honk from something _big_.

* * *

 

When she came to, she was on her side, her back against something solid and hard. Blearily, she shook her head and began to get up. She barely had a leg under her before the other sent horrendous pain through her. She collapsed with a roar of pain.

“She’s still alive!”

“Call the army!”

“She needs help!”

The Carnotaurus barely heard the humans, the pain taking over all other thoughts. She tried shifting her head to see what caused the pain, but all she could see was the humans milling around. Behind them, a massive human vehicle laid on its side, its front crushed. She roared again, not wanting to be around all these humans. They were so loud! And the lights that were flashing red and blue were hurting her eyes.

Carefully, she cracked her eyes at the humans, moaning at the stinging pain that the lights caused. She hurt all over! It appeared that the humans were having a dispute with each other. One pack had their backs to her, and she could smell more around her head. None near her jaws, unfortunately. Maybe having some food would help her feel better.

The humans that had their backs to her looked very much the same: black furred heads, bronze skin, and various shiny things around their necks and wrists. The other pack of humans had pale skin, their furs a range of colors. The soft scales they wore were the same, a deep blue and black shiny boots. Looking over, the Carnotaurus saw more of the first pack surrounding her. She continued whining, moaning, growling as the pain in her leg laced fire through her.

“She’s on our land,” one of the black furred humans said. “We decide what happens to her. And we think that she’s worth saving.”

“That dinosaur is a dangerous carnivore! And you don’t know how extensive its injuries are! It’s better off being put down,” one of the blue humans said.

The Carnotaurus huffed at that, both in curiosity and pain. Put down? What did that mean? She was already on her side, and her weight was crushing her!

“She’s on our land. We have contacted the Oakland Zoo about her already, and they are bringing a crane to transport her. Only now, they’ll have a live dinosaur to observe instead of a dead one to dissect,” the black furred human said, crossing his arms over his chest.

A light touch on her head distracted her from the fighting humans. One of the black furred humans was by her head, a weird thing in her hand. The Carnotaurus moaned and the human answered.

“I bet you’re thirsty, hmm? Here, great one.”

She popped something off of the weird thing, and the Carnotaurus could smell the water inside. Carefully, she moved her head and opened her jaws a crack. She couldn’t exactly hunt in this position, so water would have to do.

The human was cautious about her jaws, standing a little ways away and poured the water into her jaws. The Carnotaurus swallowed the water as quickly as she could, still moaning in pain.

“Shh, shh, great one. Help is coming. Just hold on, alright?” the human whispered. The Carnotaurus wanted help _now_. She snapped her jaws and roared. The human was nowhere near her jaws, but she felt a little satisfaction when the human backed up. But the pain in her leg flared up and she groaned as her head flopped back onto the black stone.

“Easy, easy,” the human muttered as she came closer again. This time, the human laid a hand on the Carnotaurus’s head. She couldn’t help but moan at the touch, the hand a relief from the pain.

“How long until Oakland Zoo gets here?” the human by her head asked.

“Twenty minutes. They had to find a crane big enough,” another human replied.

“They need to hurry up, then. I don’t know how much time she has left being like this,” the human by her head said, continuing to stroke her. The Carnotaurus never stopped whimpering and moaning, occasionally roaring when the pain became too much.

“Okay, they’re starting to move the semi now,” a human said, walking over. The Carnotaurus recognized him as one of the humans who was arguing with the rival pack. He continued, “The towing company said that they would help out when the zoo got here, lifting her up with some airbags so we can get the sling under her.”

“That’s good,” the human still petting her said. “She’s going to need it. Have you called the zoo?”

“Zoo officials are still ten minutes away, but the crane is almost here,” the other human replied. The Carnotaurus snarled at that. What was a crane? How dangerous was it that the humans were excreting caution scent?

Then she felt it. The black stone was _rumbling_. The vibrations, minute as they were, jostled her hurt leg more, sending more fire through her. She roared in protest, just as a metal long neck entered her vision. Her nostrils flared as she took in the stench of human vehicle, but her heart sped up as she realized that _the long neck had no head._ It had no head, and it was _still moving_ , coming closer to her.

The Carnotaurus had had enough. Humans were one thing, but long necks with no heads were another! She tried to get her legs under her again, but the pain was too much.

“Hey, hey, hey!”

“She’s moving!”

“Watch her leg! Watch her leg!”

Various human cries rang around her, and multiple humans swarmed, surrounding her. She roared, trying to scare them away. It barely worked, causing them to back up before they moved back in. The headless long neck kept coming. She couldn’t kill that! Especially when she was vulnerable like this!

Suddenly, the headless long neck stopped. The Carnotaurus looked at it in confusion. Did it stop because of her? A human climbed down from the long neck’s back, calling, “Someone order a crane?”

“Yes! Yes, she’s here! She’s here!” the human by her head called back, waving her arms around. The new human trotted over, stopping short at the sight of her.

“Holy shit!” the human yelped. “That’s a dinosaur!”

“Noooo, really?” the human by her head said. The Carnotaurus could smell the frustration coming from her.

“Ya know, I was expecting something a little smaller,” the new human said, creeping forward. The Carnotaurus growled a warning. _“I’ll snap you in half if you get any closer.”_

“Like what? A bear?” another human asked.

“Yeah, stupid question. How far out is the Oakland Zoo?” the new human asked.

“Last time we checked, they were twenty minutes out, and that was fifteen minutes ago,” a human replied.

The Carnotaurus was very confused. Here was a new human, but the humans around her weren’t fighting him. Not all humans were part of the same pack, she just saw that, but they don’t openly attack those who weren’t? Why?

A human noise distracted her, and she could hear a human vehicle coming closer. More humans appeared from within the metal carrier, jogging over to the humans surrounding her. The Carnotaurus roared again, thrashing her head. More humans began to yell, before something pinched her neck.

Then, the world went black.

* * *

 

“Scalpel.”

Fuzziness.

“Suck up some more of that blood.”

In and out of the world.

“Get the pins ready.”

What was happening to her leg?

“Is she still breathing?”

Of course she was. Couldn’t the humans let her sleep?

“Okay, let’s get this closed up and some painkillers in her. The sling set up yet?”

Darkness.

* * *

 

When the Carnotaurus finally woke up from her fuzzy state, she was assaulted by the noise of other animals. The second thing she noticed was that she was _hanging in midair_. Panic immediately overtook her.

She roared, trying to kick her legs, but one of her legs wouldn’t move! She swung her head around to see something white and hard around her leg, thigh to ankle. She roared again, swinging her head up to see metal bars and chains hanging from the ceiling toward her body. She could feel something around her chest and legs, but she couldn’t see it. She roared again.

_“The maneater is awake!”_

_“Stay away from her!”_

_“Stay away from the maneater!”_

The Carnotaurus swung her head to see bars, silver and shiny, and white walls around her. Across from her, more bars and white walls were supporting the ceiling. A grey animal, with small flapping ears, a long nose hanging from its face to its round feet, and as tall her, stared at her. The Carnotaurus could sense something about her, that she was wise beyond her age, whatever it was. The creature’s nose moved, wiggling around its feet.

_“You killed man?”_ the creature asked, its voice a mere whisper. It sounded…wise.

The Carnotaurus snorted. _“Why shouldn’t I? The human brought my kind to this land, away from our home! Why shouldn’t I have eaten him?”_

_“It is the Law. Man is the weakest of creatures. It is unsporting to even think about eating a human,”_ the grey creature whispered.

_“Unsporting! Unsporting!”_ cried the other voices. _“Listen to Ganesha! She is wise!”_

A growl escaped from the Carnotaurus. _“And why should I listen to you?”_

_“Do you want to live?”_ the creature Ganesha asked. _“Humans could have just killed you. And if they find out that you ate Man, they will kill you.”_

The Carnotaurus looked at Ganesha, startled. _“They will?”_

_“Yes. Did you cleanse yourself?”_ a growl asked from a wall over.

_“Cleanse?”_ she asked, confused.

_“Did you drink after you ate the Man?”_ the growl clarified. The Carnotaurus growled negatively.

_“She has an IV in her neck,”_ Ganesha said. _“They plan on keeping her, to turn the meadow by the hard earth and the little zoo for the little humans into her area.”_

_“How do you know this?”_ something from another wall asked.

_“I heard the humans talk. They think that her leg will hinder her too much,”_ the grey creature said.  

_“What did the humans do to me?”_ the Carnotaurus hissed.

_“According to the humans, you got hit by a semi. The impact broke your leg in three places, and they spent a day and a half cutting into your leg to set the pins in,”_ Ganesha said, her little ears flapping gently.

_“A semi?”_ the Carnotaurus asked.

_“Yes,”_ Ganesha said. _“Man uses semis to transport food and uneatable items across their lands. Many can die by them if they aren’t careful, Man or beast.”_

_“Man is coming!”_ a young voice called as something creaked. Footsteps belonging to many humans echoing off the walls and the other animals began to hoot, howl, and growl.

_“Do they have the big pills?”_

_“They have the food! Feeding time!”_

_“Are the thick gloves on? I just wanna nap today, not have my ears touched.”_

The Carnotaurus could smell the excitement from everyone. Humans in various patterned soft scales walked in the aisle, shiny buckets in their hands. She could smell the meat and vegetables wafting from the buckets. Her stomach growled, reminding her that her hunt had failed and starving. She snarled as two humans slipped past the bars, a bucket smelling like meat with them.

“Okay, girl. How are you feeling?” one human asked. He walked over to her good leg, patting it gently. The Carnotaurus growled and kicked her foot, trying to shoo the human away. The human knew, however, and moved away before her talons could cut into him.

“Well, at least that leg is all good. Just a little bit of road rash. Just need the antibacterial cream for that,” the human said with a chuckle. “Hey, Dr. Smith, pass me the cream, please?”

“Nick, be careful. She’s still a dangerous carnivore, with limited human interaction. There’s no telling what she’ll do,” the other human warned, tossing something round to the Nick human. Nick caught the round thing and opened it, dipping his fingers in and scooped out some white stuff. The Carnotaurus sneezed at how _too_ clean it was, just as Nick placed the white stuff right on her. She roared as the stuff was spread. It stung! She began to wiggle in her constraints.

“Easy, easy! Easy, you big baby!” Nick cried as he backed up, his black fur flopping around. He closed the round thing, walking around to the front of her. He wiped his hand on his soft scales before reaching into the bucket and pulling out some meat chunks. He put a small tube in his mouth and blew, making a sharp sound. The Carnotaurus roared again, the noise hurting her poor ears.

“Okay, okay! Not a whistle girl then,” Nick said, dropping the tube from his mouth. “Here, baby.”

He tossed the meat to her, and she snapped the chunks up in one gulp. Nick walked over to her hurt leg.

“Dr. Smith, can you watch her toes? I don’t know if I will be able to see if she wiggles them or not,” Nick asked. The Carnotaurus snarled as she watched Nick and the other human. The other human was definitely afraid, her scent practically clogging her nose. Still, she crept closer to stand by Nick. The Carnotaurus snorted as Nick knelt down to see her foot pads. She could feel him wiggle his fingers over them, and she snorted before trying to kick in response. However, her leg didn’t move, so when he did it again, she tried to grab him with her talons.

“She’s moving her toes!” the other human said, relieved. Nick stood up with a chuckle.

“Good. Means that we didn’t damage any nerves with her surgery.”

He walked over to the meat bucket again, tossing her more meat chunks. She moaned in enjoyment at the fresh meat.

“Okay, we won’t begin any training today, not until I get a clicker or something. Dr. Smith, can you change her IV bag while I distract her with food?” Nick asked.

“Yeah,” the other human said. The Carnotaurus barely paid attention, her focus solely on the meat bucket. Nick kept tossing her meat chunks, which she ate with pleasure. She forgot about the other human, she was so focused on the meat.

“Okay, her IV has been changed. Hopefully, the painkillers will help make her more comfortable,” the other human said, heading to the bars. “Better hurry up, Nick, you have others to take care of.”

“Right,” Nick said. “I wonder if they’ll have someone full-time on her.”

“Probably. C’mon, this girl’s first class will be here soon,” the other human said, leaving. Nick tossed the Carnotaurus the rest of the meat before following. The Carnotaurus finished swallowing the meat before looking to Ganesha.

_“Are all humans like that?”_ she asked her.

_“Not all humans, but our humans are good,”_ Ganesha answered. The Carnotaurus growled, confused between the behavior of the humans who had taken her and Nick’s behavior.

_“Remember, Nameless One. Beasts do not hunt Man.”_

* * *

 

The moon was full three times since she came to this place. Many humans came to see her during that time, dressed in similar soft scales and white rectangles that they scribbled on. Nick came every day, multiple times a day, to feed her. He replaced the sharp-sounding tube with a tiny thing that made clicking noises instead, and every time he gave her food, he clicked it, telling her that she was a good girl.

He also made her _do_ things before giving her food, like opening her mouth wide and holding it for various periods of time. Or lowering her head to his level and holding still while he pinched her neck. Speaking was a thing too, and she would roar right in his face when he said to. He would laugh every time, but bad behavior, like snipping at others, would result in Nick not talking to her, or not playing with her at all.

And play time was best time! Nick had found a giant round thing called a “ball,” and she was able to bounce it off the walls with her head. She loved playing with it…until it was popped by her sharp teeth. Another play time thing was a thick vine filled with grasses that Nick would have her hold in her teeth. Three or four humans would hold the other end of the vine and try to pull it away. She would just hold on to it, her jaws not even getting a workout. Nick would always reward her with meat. She was beginning to think that she should keep Nick around, and somehow get all the other animal smells off him.

One morning, she woke up to find that she was no longer hanging in the air! The thing around her leg was gone too. Happy, she jumped up…only to stumble. Her bad leg was weak from its time in the white thing. Furious, she roared, _“Humans!”_

_“What’s the matter?”_ a tiny voice asked. The Carnotaurus wasn’t sure which animal spoke; so many came in and out of this place.

_“My leg! They made my leg weak!”_ the Carnotaurus roared again.

_“Relax; they’ll make you stronger again,”_ a voice growled. _“Man always come with something new to keep us alive.”_

_“They might take you to the pool!”_ another voice squawked.

_“Pool?”_ the Carnotaurus snarled.

_“It’s like a lake, but inside!”_ the voice squawked again. _“And there are little fish that swim around you!”_

At that time, the humans came stomping in to give medication, food, and play time. Nick appeared with more humans, who carried something with them. The Carnotaurus recognized them as some of the humans that scribbled on the white rectangles.

“Hey, you brat. How are you feeling?” Nick asked, his scent relaxed but wary. The Carnotaurus snorted and nudged him as gently as she could before pouting. “Aww, don’t be like that! Your leg will be back to normal in no time! Ready for some training?”

The Carnotaurus sighed as Nick walked right in front of her nose. Ganesha’s words stayed with her, even after she went back to her “exhibit,” whatever that was. _“Beasts do not hunt Man”_ continued to bounce around in her mind as Nick knelt down, becoming eye level with her.

“Okay, we’re gonna try something new. Can you hold?” Nick asked, crossing his arms over his head. The Carnotaurus cocked her head. Hold? Hold for what? She stayed still. Nick waited for five seconds before saying “good girl!” and giving her meat. She swallowed the meat, just as Nick said, “Hold!” again. She held still, barely registering the other humans moving to her bad leg. Nick kept his strange position before saying “good girl” again and giving her meat. This process continued until the feed bucket was empty.

“You guys done yet?” Nick called to the other humans.

“Yeah, we’re good. How’s she doing?” one of the other humans asked.

“I don’t think she even noticed,” Nick replied, gathering up the feed bucket and clicker. “C’mon, we need to check to see if maintenance has her sling ready for hydrotherapy.”

“Do you really think she’ll like it?” another human asked, following Nick while giving the Carnotaurus a wide berth. The other humans did the same, sticking as close to the bars as possible. She growled at them, and the group rushed out of the area, their fear scent becoming stronger for a moment. The only one left was Nick, who did his weird eye roll thing before following the other humans.

The Carnotaurus snorted. Without thinking, she stood up, barely remembering how she couldn’t even put pressure on her lame leg. However, instead of falling, she was able to _stand_. Shocked, she swung her head to see what the humans did to her.

_“What did they do? How am I able to stand?”_ she growled.

_“You’re still leaning to one side,”_ said the black feathered creature that now resided in Ganesha’s area. _“And from the looks of it, they used something they call electroacupuncture on your leg. The tiny shocks they used on you stimulated your leg muscles that grew weak from being in the cast.”_

_“They make my leg stronger by shocking it? That doesn’t make any sense, you crow! I didn’t even feel it!”_ the Carnotaurus roared.

_“Man never really makes any sense. And I’m a raven, you sorry excuse of a scaly crocodile!”_ the black feathered creature screeched. _“And wait until your hydrotherapy sessions! You’ll be stronger in no time…if the humans let you out of here first.”_

The Carnotaurus roared again before stomping around for a little bit, snarling all the while. Eventually, she laid down again. Ganesha said that the humans were making an “exhibit” out of a meadow; Nick would let her out, right? Right?

* * *

 

The humans did let her out, after many “sessions” of that electroacupuncture and making her “swim” in the thing that had held her while her leg was in the hard thing, which apparently was the “hydrotherapy” Nick had been talking about. They let her out from one cage to another, more spacious cage that had grass, trees, a pond, and open sky with metal vines that hummed. The Carnotaurus knew that humming; the vines would give a horrible shock to any that touched them. Beyond the vines, stone covered thick metal bars rose to the sky. She didn’t know if the shocking vines were preventing the humans from coming closer to her, or if they were preventing her from going closer to the humans.

Nick had been the one that led her from the little inside area that she had been staying to this new place. He had at least two buckets of meat, and led her through the new place, filled with exciting new scents! Different creatures called to her, either asking who she was or warning her to stay away. There were some animals that she would have enjoyed hunting, but her leg was still too weak.

She continued to explore as much as she could of her new home, eyeing the headless long necks and scoopers around her area suspiciously. The humans controlling them were like ants, constantly moving and building, barely giving her a glance. They seemed to be making a bowl around her, the formation of fake rocks and mountains to create a sort of valley. It seemed almost complete, just needing the touch of humans to make it more “realistic,” whatever that meant. A tall shelter and various open spaces along one wall were the only differences in the bowl. In fact, Nick had led her through the tall shelter, which made it hers if this was her “exhibit.”

Suddenly, something loud sounded from beyond the human vehicles and the stone and bar mess. It sounded hollow, sharp, and ominous at the same time. This didn’t sound like how the semi honked, but she didn’t like it all the same. It sounded horrible and it hurt her ears!

Immediately, she ran back to the shelter, where Nick was still doing human things with the feeding buckets and a box that released coldness. Nick looked up to see her running right for him before she skidded to a stop and ducking down as close as possible with the bars in the way. His scent had changed from relaxed to surprised and worried in a heartbeat.

“Whoa, whoa, girl! What’s the matter? What’s the matter?” Nick asked, adopting the “baby tone” with the last question.

_“Something scary!”_ The Carnotaurus moaned. The noise whistled again, a little farther away, but still loud. The Carnotaurus ducked down again. Nick began to laugh.

“Did-did the train scare you? Ohhhh, you big baby! It’s not gonna hurt you! Do you need scratches now? Huh? Will that make you feel better?” Nick laughed.

The Carnotaurus narrowed her eyes at him. That noise was no laughing matter! She may not see it, but what if it found a way to attack her? Even if Nick said that it wouldn’t hurt her, that noise was annoying. She snorted in his face to stop his laughing.

“Ewww! Dino snot!” Nick whined, wiping off his face. He was still laughing when he barked “Brat!” at her. The Carnotaurus huffed before accepting the scratches from Nick. The jerky treats may have helped too.

She stayed inside her safe area for a good long while before trying the outside again. Cautiously, she made her way to her new pond, taking a nice drink before deciding to take a quick dip. Her hydrotherapy helped her learn to enjoy the water, but she would never go in deep enough to lose her footing. Besides, she doubted Nick, as brave and occasionally stupid as he was, would be able to help her if she went to the deep end.

“Honk!”

Startled, the Carnotaurus looked up from her laying spot beside a couple of boulders, her body half in and half out of the water. There was a brown, black, and white feathered creature with a long neck swimming towards her. She growled at it.

_“What are you doing in my pond?”_ the thing hissed. The Carnotaurus looked at it like it lost its mind.

_“This is my pond,”_ she growled.

_“No, it’s not. It’s my pond, like this entire zoo is_ my _zoo. Now, get out!”_ the thing honked.

_“No!”_ the Carnotaurus snarled. The thing hissed and said, _“You best get out, before I call for a giant flyer friend.”_

The Carnotaurus roared, _“No! This is_ my _pond! Mine, mine,_ mine _!”_

The thing hissed, _“Fine then! Plane! Plane!”_

The Carnotaurus snapped at it, causing it to fly out of the water. It flew over the stone and metal mess, honking curses all the while. She snorted, pleased with herself, only to nearly jump out of her scales as a massive metal flying thing roared overhead. Immediately, she scrambled out of her pond and raced to her shelter, roaring, _“NIIIIICK!”_

“What? What is it, Big Baby? Was it the plane?”

* * *

 

It took some time, but eventually she got used to the “train” and the “planes” flying over the whole zoo. However, she was happier when they _didn’t_ come. The bright colored floating boxes were easier to handle, and more entertaining.

The Carnotaurus began to talk to some of the animals near her exhibit. The hooters called siamangs often said hello, and to her surprise an animal called a sun bear was just as wise as Ganesha had been when she first woke up. They told her about the humans who came to this place, how many come to see them because they cared about them and found them fascinating or cute. A beast called a tiger would often roar about a “goose,” and when the Carnotaurus asked the sun bear about what it was, the bear described the creature that had swam in her pond. He further explained that while the other geese seemed to be content with the pools near human feeding stations, this particular goose attacked anything it wanted, including human hatchlings.

Nick visited her five times a day, cleaning her area up of dung and feeding her plenty of meat. The human vehicles of scoopers and headless long necks would move during the day, making terrible noises. The Carnotaurus would often seek comfort from Nick, who took to calling her Big Baby affectionately. His scent held nothing but love for her, but he still knew that she was dangerous.

Many humans would often visit her, often with various rectangles that they would tap on. Nick ignored them, so she did as well, only occasionally roaring to scare them. It was funny to watch them jump and back up from her. Nick would just do his eye roll thing and hand her more meat.

Her ball came back, and Nick and other humans smelling of the various animals would play with the grass filled vine while she just held it in her jaws. The Carnotaurus wasn’t quite sure what the whole point was, but Nick would always feed her meat after the humans gave up or when she let go. Once, ten humans showed up to pull, and she had to bite down on the vine hard to prevent it from leaving her jaws, bracing her legs and lowering her head to keep balance.

Often, Nick would close the safe area doors to enter past the shocking vines. She would wait patiently for the doors to open again because Nick would hide various things around, like the sweet little tree that she rolled over to scratch her back. Or meat to be headbutted out of tree crooks.

Her sessions with the fish pool continued as well, and she figured out how to splash Nick with her jaws, to which he called her “brat” for. Their sessions seemed to be a source of entertainment for the other humans, who would laugh at their antics before doing whatever needed to do to keep the zoo going.

Life was pretty good.....or so she thought.

* * *

 

“Okay,” Nick said, picking up a small plank of wood and a scribbler. “Anxiety medication taken, check! Fresh water, check! Your ball, nightlight, and security cameras? Check, check, check!”

The Carnotaurus huffed as Nick made little checks on the little wood. She already had made her nest, and Nick was still making sure that she was comfortable.

“Okay, looks like everything is all set! Jeff is on duty tonight, so be good for the new guy, okay?” Nick told her.

The Carnotaurus snorted; the humans that patrolled the zoo at night never came close to her, their nervous scent reaching her through the doors. No thank you, she’ll be sleeping throughout the night and have her nice session with the fish pool in the morning.

“Okay, Big Baby, time for me to held home. I’ll see you in the morning!” Nick said, slipping her some extra meat. He walked out of her safe area, calling behind him, “Bye!”

With that, the tiny door swung shut, and a tiny scrape came from the door before the lights went out. The Carnotaurus huffed to herself before dragging her ball closer to her and settling down to sleep, letting the darkness take her.

She didn’t know how long she had been asleep when the lights turned on again, searing her eyes behind her eyelids. Snorting and snarling, she got to her feet before releasing an angry roar.

_“It’s too early! Go away!”_ she roared. Whoever switched on the lights was fiddling with the door, and it swung open with a click. She growled, _“Nick, if that’s you, I’ll bite---”_

It wasn’t Nick. Six humans in black soft scales entered her safe area, sticks and thorn blowers in hand. Their scents were harsh and cold, their eyes hard. They moved as a pack, spreading out in her safe area.

“Open the barn doors, have your tasers at the ready. On my mark,” one human said. Another human pressed a button on a wall, opening the giant doors that she had come through when Nick led her here.

“Let’s hope this Texan pays us double when we deliver this girl to him. Damn dinosaur,” he muttered.

“He better,” the lead human growled. “Or we’ll give her so many sedatives that her heart stops.”

The doors finished opening with a clang. The lead human signaled to the human by the wall buttons, and the Carnotaurus backed up as the bars that separated her safe area and the human work section swung open. She never stopped growling and snarling at them.

“Start moving in. We’ll force her to walk to the truck,” the lead human said. The humans started to move closer. She backed up, wishing that she could hide in her exhibit, but Nick had closed it up for the night. Plus, she wouldn’t be able to get past the shocking vines, limiting where she could go.

“Arrg!” the human by the wall buttons grunted, falling to the ground. Blood scent leaked into the air. The Carnotaurus and the humans looked to see a new human, a dark scaled man with cropped curly fur and dark blue soft scales. A light stick was in his hand, and he had a protective scent.

“What the fuck do you motherfuckers think you’re doing?” he snarled. The Carnotaurus perked up. It was Jeff the night guard!

The lead human snarled, “What does it look like, you dumb fuck? Our employer wants his dinosaur back.”

“Not gonna happen!” Jeff snarled, moving around so that he and his simple light stick were between the Carnotaurus and the humans. The lead human gave Jeff a disbelieving look, and aimed his thorn blower right at Jeff. With a bang, Jeff fell backwards against the remaining bars, red blood spilling from his abdomen. The Carnotaurus roared at the noise and slammed herself against the closed doors of her exhibit.

“Get her out of there! We have a deadline!” the lead human shouted. The other humans entered her safe area, and she lowered her head to snarl at them. The humans held their sticks up to her, zapping noises coming the pointed ends of the sticks. A new noise began, a rhythmic _clang! clang! clang!_ that was _loud_. Too loud for her!

It was Jeff! He was leaning against the wall, swinging the stick with the metal rectangle at the end at the bars, making that horrible noise!

“Run, Big Baby! _RUN!!_ ” he yelled.

_“No need to tell me twice!”_ she roared, and rushed out of her safe area, right of the doors of her shelter. She felt something attach to her talon, but she ignored it in favor of running. She darted past the other exhibits, roaring.

_“Unknown humans! Unknown humans!”_

The other animals in their safe areas began to cry out, _“Poachers! Poachers! Poachers in the zoo!”_

_“Hide! Hide! They’ll hurt you! Run!”_ roared the sun bear. The Carnotaurus ran on the black stone paths, trying to find a place to hide. Human things were everywhere, and she occasionally knocked them over. The soft thing on her talon dislodged as she ran, and she looked for a hiding spot big enough. Where could she go?

The floating boxes! They led to a giant barn on logs! She could hide there!

She ran past the logs and ducked under the various human things, making sure that she couldn’t be seen. She could hear the humans shouting and running.

“Where did it go?”

“Goddammit! How something that big move that fast?”

“Keep searching!”

She huddled down, trying to avoid the light from the light sticks. The Carnotaurus didn’t move as the humans ran past. She wasn’t sure how long they were going to hunt her. Best to stay put.

* * *

 

She didn’t know how long she hid under the floating boxes barn. The humans looking for her had passed her several times, never really seeing her. When the sky began to turn light with the sun, they gave up. But she hadn’t moved still. She needed to get back to her little area. Nick probably would worry about her being out, but that would be if she didn’t get back before the sun was up completely and the humans start entering the zoo.

Carefully, the Carnotaurus peeked her head out, sniffing around. The humans that hunted her were long gone, their scents becoming fainter and fainter. She cautiously walked out of her cover, mindful of her now sore leg. As fast as she had run, it was no surprise that it was aching.

She began to retrace her steps, following her very faded scent. She limped past the other exhibits, the animals settling back to sleep in their safe areas. She wanted to be in her safe area now, earning food and scratches from Nick. She wanted a swim in the pool, with the little flapping fish under her.

“HONK!”

The Carnotaurus froze. She knew _that_ honk. Slowly, she turned her head... to see the goose. Not just any goose, but The Goose, the one that tried to claim _her_ pond, the one that liked to terrorize all the predators that basked outside, and the human hatchings with treats in their tiny hands. Occasionally, it would go after the elephants, when she heard Ganesha’s frustrated trumpeting from across the zoo. She thought it was practicing for the day that it would successfully push her into the deep end of her pond, a death sentence for her.

Growling, she faced the avian. It wasn’t fazed, its dark beady eyes emotionless. It hissed, fluffing up its feathers. The Carnotaurus let out a roar.

_“Back off! I’m warning you! I’ll step on you this time!”_ She growled.

_“You wish you could,”_ the goose hissed. It flapped its wings, making itself bigger. The Carnotaurus took a step back, her lame leg trembling slightly.

She wished Nick was with her. Nick _always_ made her feel better, even when she was “being a brat.” He fed her, gave her pats and scratches, fresh bedding, toys! He had been with her since she first woke up in the sling.

The Carnotaurus could barely keep away from the goose, panic swarming in her mind. After a sleepless night, watching Jeff the security guard be hurt, being almost abducted, and now the goose that claimed to rule the zoo? Her anxiety was kicking into overdrive.

The goose flapped its wings and began to run at her. The Carnotaurus’s fragile resolve to step on the goose broke. She began to run, the goose pecking at her tail.

_“Help! Nick! Nick! Help!”_ the Carnotaurus roared in a panic. The goose had taken flight and was pecking at her head, trying to go for her eyes but her horns were in its way.

Finally, she heard a very familiar voice and the clang of a feed bucket.

“Big Baby! Big Baby! C’mon, girl, where are you?”

It was Nick! Nick would save her!

Quickly, she looked for the lanky human on the path. There! By the building that smelled of fish!

The Carnotaurus rushed toward him, talons digging into the black stone that humans seemed to favor. Nick heard her thundering steps and began waving his arms, the feed bucket abandoned.

“Whoa! Stopstopstop! Big Baby! Big Baby, what is it? Slow down!” he called.

The Carnotaurus skidded to a stop and ducked behind him. The goose wouldn’t attack Nick, a full grown human, would it?

“What happened, Big Baby? You’re shaking! What scared you this much?” Nick asked, concern scent practically leaking from him. His hands immediately sought out her favorite scratching spots, but the Carnotaurus’s main concern was waddling right for them.

“Honk honk!” it cried. The Carnotaurus immediately ducked again, using Nick’s body to try and hide her. At the very least, it wouldn’t go for her head, right?

_“Hiding behind a human? What sort of predator are you?”_ the goose jeered.

The Carnotaurus whined, ashamed. Nick had whirled around at the first honk, and was talking to his squawk box.

“I need a couple of volunteers who have been around Big Baby before. The Terrorizer is back and it looks like he has eyes on her.”

He clipped the squawk box back to his belt and then took a stance in front of the Carnotaurus.

“Don’t worry, Big Baby. I got you,” Nick reassured her. The Carnotaurus couldn’t help but whine, scared. This was the goose who thought that the zoo was its own personal area, who pecked at human hatchlings, who was nothing more than a feathery bully. She continued to huddle behind Nick, who was currently trying to persuade the goose to go away.

“Go on! Get! Get lost! Pick on someone your own size!” he yelled, waving his arms around.

_“Like you?”_ the goose honked loudly. It launched itself at Nick, flapping its wings and pecking at him. Nick danced away from the attack, still keeping himself between her and the goose.

The Carnotaurus snapped at the bird when it got too close, but continued to huddle close to the ground. Her leg hurt, and she was hungry. The feed bucket was too far away, or she would have helped herself to its contents.

Finally, two more humans showed up, running hard.

“Boss said to get Big Baby back to her exhibit! We’ll take care of the goose!” one human said. Nick nodded and said, “Thanks!”

He grabbed the feed bucket and asked the Carnotaurus, “Okay, Big Baby. Think you can follow me?”

The Carnotaurus snorted. _“Of course I will. You have the food.”_

Nick reached into the bucket and withdrew a few chucks of meat. He tossed them into the air, and she snapped them up in a heartbeat.

“C’mon, girl. Let’s go home,” Nick coaxed. The Carnotaurus perked up at that. Home! With her pond and barn and Nick and naps.

She finally stood up, the squabble between the two new humans and the goose still continuing. Nick had his clicker in between his hand and the handle of the feed bucket, and signaled her to follow.

_“Take me home! I want breakfast,”_ the Carnotaurus snarled. She got up from her huddled position and took a few steps toward him. Nick gave a series of clicks with the clickeer and said, “Good girl, Big Baby! Good girl!”

He fed her more meat, then moved forward to repeat the process. The Carnotaurus followed him, limping heavily. She was so tired. All she wanted now was to be in her little area, a full belly, and nice long nap. Nick scratches were optional at this point.

Finally, finally, they got to her area. The Carnotaurus was ready to run back to her barn, but knew that disobedience meant less food. And she wanted all the food!

Nick led her into her barn, the doors still open from the intruding humans. Gingerly, she followed, keeping an eye out for anything that would try and hurt her again. When she saw that there was no danger, the Carnotaurus nearly collapsed in relief.

Finally! Finally, she was home, safe!

“C’mon, Big Baby. In you go,” Nick coaxed, waving to the open bars. The Carnotaurus nearly sprinted past the bars, to the now open exhibit. She rolled around in the grass, a relief from being cramped up under the floating box barn. She didn’t even pay attention when the bars slid back in place.

“Did they find Jeff?” she heard Nick asked. Looking up from her rolling around, she saw another human standing next to Nick.

“Yeah, they found him. The fuckers dumped his body in one of the construction dumpsters. The police also found two more bodies: one on the walkpath and another in the baboon exhibit,” other human replied. “It looks like Jeff got a good swing in on the guy on the walkpath before Big Baby stepped on him.”

“Goddamn poachers,” Nick snarled, angry scent coming off of him. “If it wasn’t for Jeff, they would have taken Big Baby.”

“Yeah. And management thinks that the dude that was in the baboon exhibit was trying to check out the woods and slipped in,” the other human said. “Cracked his head open, and that was before the baboons got to the body.”

The Carnotaurus looked at the humans confused. Jeff was dead? She sniffed the air, and could smell death from beyond the headless long necks. She moaned sadly. Jeff had been the only “security guard” that wasn’t completely scared of her.

“Do we have video of the attempt?” Nick asked.

“Yeah, and the fuckers didn’t even try to hide their faces. They tried smashing the hard drives, but it looks like Jeff had a program where copies of the video were saved to a different server. We’ll be able to press charges against them,” the other human answered. “Boss wants to hold a memorial for Jeff.”

“That would be good,” Nick said. He looked toward the Carnotaurus. She looked at Nick sadly. “Hopefully, this won’t happen again.”

* * *

 

A moon had passed since the poachers had tried to take her from her exhibit. A “memorial” had been held by her exhibit, complete with mourning scents and human talking, and the zoo had closed for the day. Nick had been on guard each night, making sure that her safe area was secure and occasionally staying the night. The Carnotaurus was grateful for her little human, but there were times that he was treating her like a hatchling!

She snorted, looking at the almost complete walls of her exhibit. They seemed to be adding a mountain peak to the bowl, which was taking more time before the shocking vines would be removed.

“Hey, Big Baby. You doing okay?” Nick called from her safe area. The Carnotaurus snorted and began to roll around in the soft grass. It always made Nick laugh, and this time was no exception.

She finished her rolling around and stood up with a shake before deciding to take a nice long drink of water from her pond. She growled in contentment as the cool liquid soothed her throat; she was never taking this place for granted ever again!

“Excuse me!”

The Carnotaurus’s head snapped to her safe area. Two new smells and a somewhat familiar one was mixing with Nick’s scent: all female. She snorted and began to walk toward her safe area, growling. If someone was wanting to take her away again....

“Dr. Harding! Ms. Dearing! It’s an honor to meet you!” Nick’s voice echoed. The Carnotaurus cocked her head. Who were they?

“Dr. Kinyi was just going on and on about the wonderful work you’ve done with the Carnotaurus,” said one of the new humans. The Carnotaurus stepped into her safe area, still growling. She began to sniff the air, sneezing at the too sweet camouflage scent one of the humans was wearing. The other new human, however, had the scent of...

_“Hunt Sister?”_ she growled, but Hunt Sister wasn’t there. Only her trace scent was on the older human with copper and grey fur. The other human had similar fur, but brighter and no trace of grey.

“We heard what happened and wanted to express our condolences over your security guard,” the bright human said, the too sweet scent not disguising her sincerity.

“Thanks. Jeff was a good man, and because he had backed up all the security videos, we now have proof that someone tried to steal Big Baby away. We’re adding a watch tower to her exhibit and plan on hiring another security guard for nights, just for her,” Nick said, a little sorrow scent coming from him. The Carnotaurus rumbled and nudge his arm as best she could through the bars. Nick turned and patted her on the nose before turning back to the new humans.

“We recently had a similar experience with what you went through, and after much debate and checking the construction of the new enclosure in terms of safety and space, it seems that you would be the most ideal candidates for the moment,” the copper human explained.

The Carnotaurus stared at the group. Where they doing what she thought that they were doing? Nick smelled excited about the question.

“Wait, what? Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” he asked nervously.

The bright human grinned. “How would you all like another Carnotaurus for when the exhibit opens?”


	5. Terror  (Part 1 of 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buyers never forget what they paid for. Shanti the Allosaurus finds out the hard way when some of the auction buyers came back to Lockwood Manor to get what they paid for and Becky gets in the way. 
> 
> Part 1 of 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own any of Jurassic Park or Jurassic World. 
> 
> And there's a reason I broke up Shanti into into a saga, it was going to be too long otherwise.

Shanti the Allosaurus was rather rudely awakened by something pulling up to the outside doors. Her human, Becky, must have heard it too, because she was moving around in her cot and padding toward the doors. Her scent, while still a little tired, carried protectiveness in it.

“Who’s there?” The human growled, not pleased. Shanti wasn’t pleased either, and growled, _“If it’s another lost camper again, I’m gonna find a way to eat them.”_

_“Not if I get one first,”_ croaked a Dilophosaurus, tiredly rubbing her eyes. No one else had a chance to chime in, for a new smelling human said, “Uh, Deep Freeze Contracting, ma’am. We’re donating our services for the dinosaurs. Uhh, could you put the gun away, ma’am, please?”

A slight pause, then Shanti heard Becky snarl, “Does it look like I’m a ‘ma’am’ to you?”

“Uhhh, yes, ma’am?” the new human said nervously. Shanti heard Becky growling to herself before stomping back to her cot. Peeking between the bars, she saw Becky slip something black and silver under her soft scales before snatching up the squawk box by the cot.

“Owen. Claire,” she said to the squawk box. “Some contractors are here. Did we get a donation letter or something from a company called Deep Freeze Contracting?”

Shanti watched as Becky waited for the squawk box to speak. When it did, it wasn’t Owen or Claire who answered.

“Barry here. From the looks of it, we did recently receive something from Deep Freeze. Claire said that she was going to schedule a time for them to come over, but from you’re saying, someone jumped the gun. Claire’s on her way down to meet you all,” Barry’s voice said through the squawk box.

“Copy that. Becky out,” Becky said to the squawk box before dropping it onto her cot. She picked up the silver and black thing again and pointed it back to the entrance.

“Ma’am, please! There’s no need for that!” The new human yelped. More humans were clambering as well, asking Becky to “put the gun down.”

“I’m not lowering my weapon until Claire gives me the okay,” Becky growled. Shanti growled in anticipation. Now she could see what made humans think that they were better, and thus put themselves into danger, as Blue has said. Obviously, this was one of those times.

The living doors dinged before opening, revealing The Regent in her own sleeping soft scales and messy fur. She smelled as grumpy and tired as Becky sounded. But she stalked over to Becky’s side and whispered something to her. Becky nodded and lowered her “gun/weapon,” but didn’t relax her position. Shanti knew that Blue was her human’s second in the pack, and from the looks of it, Becky was playing The Regent’s second. The Regent looked out to the outside and said, “Is there a particular reason for the ungodly hour, gentlemen? I had just gotten off the phone with your employers yesterday and still setting up a time where everyone would be safe and not stressed about the noise.”

“You did, ma’am, but we just got word from UPS, FedEx, and the USPS about the incoming donations that you’ll be getting tomorrow. Here are the inventory lists,” the spokesperson for the new humans said, and The Regent grabbed a tiny plank of wood from him. Looking it over, The Regent’s eyes got wide.

“One hundred and twenty carcasses?” she gasped. Shanti watch as Becky looked over The Regent’s shoulder only to become wide-eyed as well.

“Nearly two tons of fruits and veggies?” She squealed. Shanti winced at the high pitched noise.

“How? We’re still working out a deal with the towns around here just for roadkill!” The Regent asked.

“The Oakland Zoo is opening a new exhibit in a couple months. They got the framework up and an electric fence in place, but they’re wanting to do more. Which how everyone else figured it out. Guess what they’re calling it?” the spokesperson said.

“Oh no. Not Dino Country or some shit like that,” Becky groaned. Shanti perked up at that. Did someone find one of the broken pack?

“Close. Carno Country. A dinosaur was hit by a semi by the Lytton Indian Reservation and the tribe there called the Oakland Zoo,” the spokesperson said.

“A semi?” Shanti and everyone else looked up to see Maisie standing on the catwalk, still in her sleeping soft scales.

“They thought she had died, but she wasn’t, she wasn’t!” The spokesperson hurriedly reassured the hatchling. “The full article is in the news. Pictures and all. Anyways, someone tried to steal the dinosaur last week. She managed to escape and wandered around the zoo the whole night until her keeper found her.”

“Damn,” The Regent muttered. “So in other words, everyone knows.”

“Basically, yeah,” the spokesperson said, his scent apologetic. Shanti snorted. That just meant that humans were going to give them food! Becky’s idea worked!

“Okay. There’s a busted lab upstairs, think you’ll be able to use it for a walk-in freezer?” The Regent asked.

“We’ll have to check,” the spokesperson said.

“Okay. Maisie, could you please show these workers where the busted lab is? We need the others functioning,” The Regent asked.

“Sure. Up here, guys,” Maisie called before walking toward the stairs. Shanti could hear the new humans coming inside, and as they passed her cage, she saw a group of humans wearing bright soft scales over top of more soft scales that covered them from wrist to ankle, and hard tops on their heads. They trooped up the stairs, carrying various sized boxes and bags with them.

Becky had placed her gun under her cot soft scales again and watched the new humans proceed up the stairs.

“Hey, girl with the welding torch!” she called to one of the humans. The mentioned human stopped and called back, “Yeah?”

“You got any more friends who wanna donate their time and energy to using their torches for a good cause?” Becky asked, her scent taking on the mischievous side that she had.

_“Uh oh,”_ Shanti growled.

_“What?”_ a stegosaurus moaned.

_“Becky’s got an idea,”_ Shanti said. This was either a good idea, or very very bad.

* * *

 

Shanti snorted and tried to paw at the soft scale over her eyes. No luck; she couldn’t reach it. She moaned and laid down again, listening to the pandemonium outside.

The working humans had made quick work in transforming the “lab” into a cold room for food. They even made a second one, to separate the carnivores from the herbivores. The human girl with the “welding torch,” whatever that was, had quickly called more humans for another project. One that required everyone to be blindfolded.

Shanti snorted. She could hear Blue losing her raptor mind, not knowing if she should attack or try to get the eye scales her human Owen had strapped to her. Everyone else was as calm as they possibly could be with all the noise, but Shanti had a feeling that it mostly had to do with the sedatives their humans had added to their morning feedings. Yes, she could taste them, despite the round thing saying that it was tasteless. All the humans from The Regent’s previous pack were here as well, asking what they could do to help. Many had instructions to sit with the dinosaurs, but some had experienced this “welding” thing that was happening. Whatever welding was, it was causing bright sparks even from behind her blindfold.

Shanti couldn’t smell anything but heat and metal. Thus, she was surprised to hear another new human enter.

“Hello, hello!”

Shanti perked up at the voice: female, experienced, and cool. She still couldn’t see or smell anything, but humans talk a lot. She’ll just listen in.

“Dr. Harding? Dr. Sarah Harding?” Shanti heard Becky squeak. Why did Becky squeak like that?

“Yes, that’s me. I heard through the paleontologist grapevine that you all were looking for another person to look after the last big carnivore that you have,” this Dr. Sarah Harding said. Shanti snorted. What sort of human would go up against the remaining Carnotaurus?

“Oh, okay. Umm, then you’ll want to talk to Claire then. She’s right down there,” Shanti heard Becky say nervously.

“Thank you,” the Dr. Sarah Harding said, and walked away.

“You are such a fangirl,” Shanti heard Owen chuckle.

“Shut the fuck up, Owen,” Becky said without any anger. “Dr. Harding has written many papers about predators like Shanti and the others, and she’s been to Isla Sorna. Fucking badass is what she is, and she’s _here_.”

“To help with that last Carnotaurus,” Owen reminded her. Shanti snorted. At least she had Becky. That Carnotaurus sounded like she was about to get a “know-it-all,” as Owen called Maisie sometimes.

The humans continued to joke around as they started up the bright sparks again. Shanti sighed and decided that maybe a nap was in order.

* * *

 

The nap was a bust. Too much noise, too many bright sparks, too many smells. Shanti growled to herself as the noise started to wind down a little.

“Okay, Shanti. Have a good look at your new view!” Becky said, finally removing the blindfold. Shanti blinked away the fuzziness before blinking again.

There was a hole in the bars, big enough for her head and shaped to support her neck. Carefully, Shanti stuck her head through. The length of the aisle greeted her, with the catwalk and other dinosaur cages.

She began to test the bars, swinging her head side to side, stretching out her neck to the ground and toward the catwalk. The bars held their shape, but she couldn’t quite reach the ground....or any humans.

“What do you think, huh?” Becky asked, grinning. Shanti purred in appreciation, turning her head left and right. Almost everyone had a hole big enough for their head and neck, allowing more space and interaction between everyone. She looked down to see her neighbor, the Ankylosaur, sticking her head out as well.

_“Well, this is nice,”_ The Queen purred. Shanti looked over to see The Queen had her head out too.

_“Yes, it is,”_ Trouble’s mother hooted. _“Now, I can see what mischief my hatchling gets up to.”_

_“Or get treats easier!”_ Trouble squealed. _“How come I don’t have a hole?”_

_“You get out plenty of times; the humans shouldn’t have a hole for you,”_ pouted a baby Stegosaurus.

“Okay, everything is ready for you! Now, UPS, Fed-ex, and USPS can give you all the donations that they get. Now, the freezers will be able to hold..” the Deep Freeze human began to rattle on, and Shanti began to tune the humans out. The other humans were packing their equipment and leaving their home. Owen hadn’t removed the eye scales from Blue, allowing the human workers to leave with little harm.

Shanti yawned and withdrew her head from the new hole. Hopefully, the humans would be gone by the time the humans began evening feedings.

* * *

 

Fortunately, the new humans left before evening feeding, and everything went as smoothly as possible. The next morning, giant human vehicles showed up. All the humans residing in the nest appeared, hauling what smelled like food from the vehicles to the new Cold Rooms, sorting between meat and grasses. Blue acted as a guard, keeping the drivers at bay while the humans emptied the vehicles.

All the humans had been laughing and talking while moving the food smelling boxes, and the vehicles were emptied by the time afternoon feeding came. Shanti practically salivated when Becky hauled a black and white little hoofed creature to her. Snatching it up and chewing it was a delight at tasting something new. The rest of the day consisted of the humans unloading the food boxes into the Cold Rooms. Then they did the evening feedings before everything went back to normal.

That was three days ago. Shanti stuck her head over her bars again, taking in the simple joy of having a lovely view. Becky and Owen did a good job with making the dipped openings; her neck didn’t get caught on any snags from the metal. She snorted and looked at the little nest her human had by her cage.

Becky had gone wherever the humans had gone to feed and then cover herself in water and a smelly scent that covered her human smell. Shanti didn’t think that human scent was bad, but for some reason humans did and constantly covered themselves in various other scents. She would be back to give Shanti’s nighttime scratches and a special treat before nesting down herself.

“And you’re sure that the woman is upstairs?”

Shanti turned her head toward the new voice. She took a deep breath through her nose, smelling five unfamiliar humans. They were in black soft scales, and sticks at their hips.

“You doubting me, dawg? The bitches of this place have a fucking routine: feed the dumb beasts, go upstairs, eat, shower, sleep. Or fuck,” came a new voice, rough and slurred. Shanti growled at the voice.

The human smelled sick, like the coyote that attacked Trouble the Triceratops and her mother’s cage not even a moon ago. His human scent was clogged and rotten, like a week-old carcass in the sun. The other humans didn’t have the same sickness, but Shanti could smell something off about them. They smelled cold, like they weren’t from the local area. Shanti knew those scents: warm earth, pine, lake water. The new human scents were of ice, cracked earth, and moss. They weren’t from around here.

Shanti could tell The Queen had noticed this as well because she was growling at the intruders too.

_“Who dares to enter our domain?”_ The Queen growled.

_“I don’t know,”_ Shanti replied, continuing her growl. _“But we can ask any who don’t make it past our jaws.”_

The Queen rumbled in amusement at her answer. The other dinosaurs were on alert as well, snorting and bellowing warnings. A couple of pteranodons even slipped their beaks out between the bars of their cage, snagging a couple of soft scales. The humans swore and grabbed the sticks at their hips, thrusting them past the bars. Shanti could hear the _zap!_ as the sticks made contact with the pteranodons.

_“Shock sticks!”_ The Queen roared. _“Back up! Back up!”_

The other dinosaurs took up the cry.

_“Shock sticks!”_

_“Get away!”_

_“Shock sticks! Stay away from us!”_

The humans continued down the aisle, shock sticks still humming. Shanti snarled and snapped at them as they passed her cage, but the way that Becky and Owen designed the new opening prevented her from lowering her neck all the way to the ground. For once, Shanti cursed her human’s caution.

“This the one you want, dawg?” The sick human asked, gesturing to The Queen. The Queen roared at them. _“I’m not going anywhere with you!”_

One human shook his head. “No, she’s too big for our trailer. If we are to haul a dinosaur, we need something smaller.”

The human began to retrace his steps. Another human asked, “Did you see the one that we had bought but never received?”

“Nah, man. The only one I saw out of a cage was that blue one I’s telling you about,” the sick human said, his gaunt face sharp against his limp fur. Shanti growled at them. The human that was walking back and forth, inspecting the cages, stopped in front of hers.

“If we cannot have the Indoraptor,” he said, “then we’ll take _her.”_

_“Like hell you will!”_ Shanti growled, flinging one of Becky’s favorite swears at them. She was scared, so scared. Their humans always smelled nice, like a fresh meadow or too sweet honey. These humans had a brutal scent to them, harsh and unforgiving.

“Pietro, go man the control room. We’ll drive her into the trailer. And you,” the harsh human said, grabbing the sick human, “go tell our driver to go to cage sixteen. Then you’ll get your money and dope.”

“Okay, man!” the sick human squeaked, fear scent making him smell worse. The brutal human let him go, and the sick human sprinted away. A different human had already left, going up the stairs to one of the human rooms.

Shanti growled and snapped at the three remaining humans. The brutal one smirked. “She’s feisty. We’ll have to break her of that.”

Shanti growled again, but something else distracted her.

_“Don’t worry, Shanti! I’ll save you!”_

It was Trouble! She had slipped out of her cage and was charging the humans! What did that little baby think she was doing?

_“Trouble! No!”_ Shanti roared.

Too late. Trouble rammed into one of the humans, causing him to fall with a grunt of pain. Trouble kept ramming into the human’s belly, her horn nowhere near as sharp as it could be to do any lasting damage. Still, the humans didn’t like that. The brutal one and the remaining human began to use their shock sticks to drive Shanti farther into her cage, while the downed human began to use his on Trouble, swearing. Trouble only lasted two whacks from the shock stick before collapsing with a cry. The human stood up with a snarl, his scent angry. He raised his arm, his shock stick cackling.

Trouble’s mother wailed, _“Trouble!”_

_BANG!_ The human didn’t have a chance to deliver the final blow. He collapsed beside Trouble, a hole in the back of his head. Shanti looked up to see Becky on the stairs with her silver and black gun in her hands. The other humans whirled around, and their scent turned hateful.

“That bastard! He said that we would have enough time!” The brutal one snarled. Shanti purred happily. Becky was here! Her scent was a little off, but that didn’t matter because she was here!

“Next time you try and steal something, remember to pick a target that won’t make as much noise,” Becky said coldly. Shanti could smell the switch in her human. Becky’s scent was of a Predator, of protection. She was going to hunt the new humans down.

“Take her!” the brutal human snarled. The glass from one of the human rooms shattered and barely missed Becky. Becky grunted and leapt off the stairs, firing her gun as soon as she landed. The glass shattered some more, but Shanti couldn’t smell death from within. Becky ducked behind some bales of hay before firing again. The human next to the brutal one cried out as blood bloomed from a nick in his arm. All the dinosaurs began to roar, cheering Becky on.

The new humans had their own guns as well, strapped to their legs. They fired as well, taking positions behind various items strewn around. Shanti heard something behind her open, and she turned see a hidden door leading to something dark.

More humans swarmed inside from the open doors to the aisle, all dressed in black soft scales and shock sticks at their hips. Another slipped through the open doors of her cage. Shanti roared a warning.

_“Becky! Look out!”_

Becky _must_ have understood what she said, because she fired three times at the new humans. Three went down, blood pooling from their chests. The other human dove behind another object.

“Get that Allosaurus in the trailer!” the brutal human yelled. The two remaining humans quickly slipped into her cage, shock sticks at the ready. Shanti snapped at them, nervous, but they drove their shock sticks right at her jaws and legs, causing her to move back into the dark space.

_“Stay back! Stay away!”_ Shanti snarled.

BASOOW!

“Barry! In the control room!” Becky cried behind her hay bales. Shanti couldn’t see what was happening beyond her cage, but if Barry was there, so were the others. The brutal human and Becky were still firing at each other. Becky was trying not to hit her, Shanti could tell, but that meant that the brutal human didn’t have any injuries.

Suddenly, the bars of her cage began to lift up. Shanti couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Shit! Becky, look out! The guy unlocked Shanti’s cage!” Barry called. Becky’s scent went from protective to protective and scared. The brutal human turned around and swore.

“Goddamnit! Pietro, you idiot!”

“Your Pietro is dead! Give up!” Barry barked.

“No!” the brutal human snarled, leveling his gun at Shanti. Becky took the opening and fired. The brutal human collapsed, a bloody hole in his head.

“Barry! Close the door to the loading bay!” Shanti heard Owen’s voice. “Becky, how many bullets do you have left?”

“I’m out! And there’s three still in there with Shanti!” Becky snarled. Owen appeared around the corner and fired off two shots from a rifle. Blue appeared out of nowhere, screaming and landing on the last human, tearing into him. Now all the humans inside are dead.

Behind her, Shanti could hear the door closing, preventing her from going into the dark space. She charged out of her cage, going straight to Becky. The human was standing up from her position behind the hay bales and immediately got a shaking Allosaurus to the chest.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, it’s okay. It’s over now,” Becky whispered, petting her gently. Shanti didn’t care; humans had almost taken her away from the human that actually cared about her. Who snuck her eggs and bacon, who gave the best scratches, who loved her. Shanti felt a drop of water on her head, then another and another. Looking at her human, Shanti saw that Becky was leaking water from her eyes.

“They scared me too, girl,” she whispered. Shanti purred and nuzzled her human.

“You whore!”

Three shots rang out, and Becky gasped, her hand clasping at her side. Shanti turned her head with a snarl to see the sick human with a gun in his hand. Shanti roared and charged at him. The sick human leveled his gun at her, but another shot rang. The sick human fell from a hole in his chest.

Shanti didn’t care and snapped up the dead body. Quickly, she shook her head around, tasting the sickness coursing through the human’s veins.

_“Shanti! Put it down, put it down! Becky needs you!”_ Blue screeched. Shanti turned to the Velociraptor with a snarl, the sick human’s body still between her teeth.

“Shanti,” Becky called, sounding weak. Shanti turned to look at her human, collapsed against the very hay bales that protected her. “Shanti, come here.”

Grunting, Shanti obeyed, noticing how The Regent was coming down the stairs with a still smoking gun and Barry and Owen pressing down on Becky’s belly. She dropped the body by Becky and nudged it.

_“You need to eat,”_ Shanti growled. Becky raised a hand up to her, and she nuzzled it gently.

“Good girl, Shanti, good girl,” Becky said, wincing. Shanti whined and nudged the body closer.

_“Eat,”_ Shanti whined.

_“Humans don’t eat humans, Shanti,”_ The Queen growled gently. Shanti whined again.

“Ambulance and police are on their way,” The Regent said, kneeling down and grasping Becky’s hand. All the humans were in their sleeping soft scales. Shanti could hear Trouble stirring, but ignored the baby in favor of nuzzling her little human.

“We’re going to have a hard time with the cops with Shanti out,” Owen muttered. Blue hooted and nuzzled her alpha’s shoulder. Shanti could only huddle as Becky breathed heavily. Her human turned to look at Trouble and laughed.

“Really, Franklin? You just sleep in boxers?”

Shanti looked up to see Franklin in only one small soft scale. Trouble was currently nuzzling his knees while Zia had an exasperated scent as she checked over the baby. Franklin smelled embarrassed.

“I was about to get some pants on, but everything just...” the dark human trailed off.

“Do your parents pick those out too?” Zia asked sarcastically.

“And close the gap, man! The cops are coming!” Barry barked. Shanti could smell that he was as amused as he was worried. Becky giggled, then winced.

“Don’t make me laugh; it hurts!”

“Becky?” a little voice asked as human wailing came closer. Shanti looked up to see the hatchling Maisie standing on the catwalk.

“I’ll be okay, Maize,” Becky called weakly. “Can you do me a favor?”

Shanti cocked her head curiously. What was a favor?

“The empty cage. Can you go to the control room and wait for Claire to lead Shanti to it and get her in? Then you can lock it and we won’t have to deal with panicking police and EMTs,” Becky said.

Maisie nodded, her face red and water leaking out of her eyes, and ran to the shattered human room. The Regent released Becky’s hand and ran over to the door leading to the cold room. Opening it, the Regent reached inside and pulled out one of the feed buckets, closing the cold room door sharply. Shanti could smell the meat inside, but she didn’t want to leave Becky.

“Go on, Shanti,” Becky whispered. “Follow Claire.”

Shanti whined.

_“Now, Shanti,” T_ he Queen growled. _“Follow my Regent.”_

Shanti whined again, but did as The Queen said. The Regent muttered soothing words, tossing meat every few feet, until she and Shanti were in the cage that had the old scent of Carnotaurus. The bars swung down slowly, locking them in. The Regent gave Shanti the rest of the meat before leaving through the small door. Shanti whined again as tiny feet ran down the stairs, Maisie’s sobbing not helping.

Outside, Shanti could hear the human emergency noises coming. Tires squealed to a stop, and smell of rubber filled her nose.

“Over here! Wear purple gloves; Blue will take your hands off if you wear blue ones. Maisie, keep hugging Blue. Where’s Dr. Harding?” Shanti could hear Owen bark.

“I’m here! Barry just gave the all clear,” the new human called back, rushing past her cage. Shanti couldn’t see what was happening.

“Dr. Harding, stay with Blue and Maisie. I need to go with Becky and start the Hagan Family Grapevine. Listen to Claire; she and Blue are in charge until I get back. Barry, follow behind us in the truck. Claire, handle the police?” Owen continued to hand out orders.

“Done,” The Regent said as more human emergency noises came from outside. Shanti could smell the confidence from her. “I’ll have Franklin give them the videos of what happened down here.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Shanti could hear Franklin saying, submissive scent almost overwhelming.

Shanti could hear more humans in the background, talking about “GSWs” and “bleeding heavily” and “blood transfusions.” She whined, wishing to see Becky, to receive any form of comfort. Doors were slammed, and a human vehicle screamed its emergency noises before fading. Becky’s scent began to fade too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments get these chapters out faster! Send the love!


	6. JP (Part 2 of 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Becky is still in the hospital, and Shanti is not happy about it. Owen called in reinforcements....and Shanti was going to make sure that they were going to regret it. 
> 
> Part 2 of 3.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Jurassic World! All my OCs are mine. 
> 
> The last part of this saga will be done soon!

It had been two days since Becky left. Shanti had barely eaten in that time. The humans in the blue soft scales had gathered as much as they could out of her cage before leaving, and then The Regent moved her back in with a bucket of meat. But after Becky didn’t return in the morning, she stopped eating. Owen came back in the afternoon, exhausted. Shanti didn’t care because he didn’t bring Becky back home with him.

Hence why she was currently curled up in a corner of her cage, just staring out of the bars at Becky’s nest. It still had her scent, but it was fading fast. She moaned.

Allosaurs were typically solitary dinosaurs, but Becky had gotten under her scales. Shanti didn’t know how, besides the feedings and the scratches and the treats....

Okay, maybe she did know, but she shouldn’t have the little human under her scales. Yet here she was, curled up in a corner, waiting. Would Becky come back? Would she be the same? What would happen to her if Becky didn’t come home?

Shanti moaned again. The Regent stopped in front of her cage, worry scent leaking from her.

“Don’t worry, Shanti,” The Regent said, “Becky will be back soon.”

_“Soon isn’t soon enough,”_ Shanti whined. Owen came up next to The Regent, a carcass slung over his shoulder.

“Anything?” He asked. The Regent shook her head, her scent becoming sad mixed with the worry. He sighed, “Let’s see if she’ll eat today.”

With that, he opened the small door and entered Shanti’s cage. Shanti snarled at him. He kept his eyes on her, lowering the carcass to the floor. Shanti shifted so that her legs were under her before charging at Owen. Owen was fast, however, and sprinted out the door before slamming it shut. She didn’t care, and slammed her head against it, causing it to budge open and send Owen flying.

_“GO AWAY!”_ she roared. Owen groaned as he got up limping. The Regent had slammed the door closed again and slipped the bar back into place before rushing over to Owen.

“Owen!” she cried, mating and concerned scent coming from her. Blue rushed over, the ever loyal beta, and sniffed Owen up and down.

“I’m okay, girls, I’m okay,” Owen grunted, sounding a little out of breath. Blue snorted before screeching at Shanti.

_“How could you? Owen was just trying to help!”_

Shanti snarled, _“I don’t want his help! I want my human!”_

_“So you think that attacking my human will bring yours back? That’s not how humans work!”_ Blue screamed.

_“I want my Becky!”_ Shanti roared back. The humans clapped their hands over their ears at the sound, wincing. Shanti went back to her corner, still ignoring the carcass.

_“I want my Becky back,”_ Shanti whined. She could hear Owen sigh from beyond her cage.

“This isn’t good,” he said over Blue’s continued snarling.

_“_ What?” The Regent asked.

“Well, it’s good and it’s bad. Good that we now know that Allosaurs can bond to others, but at a young age, bad in the fact that she might not accept food from someone else, much less from someone who doesn’t smell like her handler,” Owen explained as he limped back to the cage. Blue pushed her body between her human and the bars of the cage, giving Shanti a death glare worthy of The Queen herself. Shanti didn’t care.

“What do you suggest?” The Regent asked, standing next to Owen and Blue.

“We may need someone who smells close enough to Becky in relation to handle Shanti while she’s recovering in the hospital. Getting her back onto a routine would help too; I’ll text Barry so that Becky can make a list of things that she does for Shanti during the day,” Owen said.

“And the relative?”

“I started up the Hagan Family Grapevine while heading to the hospital. I know that her parents won’t be able to make it until later in the week, but JP said that he’ll be there to visit before coming here,” Owen said grimly. Shanti watched with jealousy as Blue looked at her human, confused at the wary scent coming from him.

“JP? What’s his relationship with Becky?” The Regent asked, confused.

“JP is short for John Paul, and he’s her brother,” Owen explained.

“You don’t sound excited about him,” The Regent said, suspicious scent becoming prominent.

“Let’s just say that JP has a...temper,” Owen said grimly. Blue growled, not liking his tone. Shanti didn’t care what the three of them thought; maybe this JP human will bring Becky with him.

* * *

 

JP had arrived later in the afternoon. Shanti only knew this from everyone else roaring about a human vehicle parking in the aisle and a dominance fight going on. She had fallen asleep unexpectedly, and only had to blink a few times before realizing what she was seeing.

A tall male human was fighting with Owen, kicking and punching from the both of them. Owen seemed to allow a couple of hits in before really letting the other human know who was in charge. The Regent, Blue, Barry, and another male human were all circling the fight, shouting and trying to pull away the two combatants. Blue was just trying to get a good hold of the intruding male, but could only grab his soft scales, causing rips and tears. The intruding human was shouting, mourning and angry scent pouring out of him.

“She was supposed to be safe with y’all! She was supposed to be _safe_! You bastard! You fucking _bastard_ _!_ How could you let this happen to her?”

He kept throwing wild punches at Owen, who dodged with ease. Shanti couldn’t help but stare as the fight continued. Why move when the other dinosaurs were hooting and screeching, the most entertainment they have had in days?

Finally, Owen seemed to have enough of the shouting human. He grabbed the other male by his soft scales and threw him. The other male hit something with a loud _thunk!_ , scrambling to get back up. Owen quickly put a stop to that, throwing his fist into the other male’s face until he was back on the ground. Both combatants were breathing heavily.

“JP,” Owen began, “I know I failed.”

Shanti snorted in surprise. The other male who had been fighting was JP? The furs hanging off of his chin and covering his head were not blue and green like Becky’s fur. He was taller than her, and angrier. If Owen even raised his voice to Becky, she would stare silently at the wall until she was alone and then punch a hay bale.

But there was no denying his scent; JP was directly related to Becky. Shanti cocked her head at the human. How were they directly related?

Owen continued, “I know I failed, as Alpha of the pack and as Becky’s unofficial big brother. Becky got hurt because we got too comfortable with our security. We grew complacent, not even thinking if the buyers would come back for the dinosaurs. And Becky put her life on the line like a true Marine to protect them. And right now, she’s asking you to continue to protect them, as a favor from a fellow Marine....and as your baby sister.”

The other male, JP, shook his head, seemingly ignoring Owen.

“Two tours. One to Iran and then to Afghanistan. No major injuries. But as soon as she gets home? _Three_ gunshot wounds? Why, Owen, why didn’t she just let them take just one?” he asked, small drops of water coming out of his eyes.

“Because she has a huge ass heart for animals, JP. Always have, always will. Remember the time where those drunks were trying to torture the ducks at school?” Owen said. JP nodded.

“Rammed them into the pond, I remember,” he croaked. Owen knelt down to the other human.

“C’mon, man. You’ve known me since Ma’s chem class. When’s the last time she wouldn’t have tried to help an animal?” he asked, placing a hand on JP’s shoulder.

JP laughed hollowly. “Never. If she hadn’t signed on with the Marines, she would have been an animal control officer, trying to bust dog fighting rings.”

“Exactly,” Owen confirmed. Shanti huffed, confused at the mourning scents coming from both humans. They were just fighting, where was the anger scent? Was JP submitting to Owen?

Owen stood up, holding out a hand to JP. “We good?”

JP sighed and took Owen’s hand, and stood up still grasping it. “Yeah, yeah, we’re good.”

Blue, however, didn’t seem satisfied with this and nipped JP right on his tail end. She hissed, _“You will listen to Owen or else!”_

“Oww! Fuck, Owen! She just bit me!” JP shouted, slapping a hand to the spot. He looked at Blue with a wide-eyed stare.

“Blue. Stand down,” Owen said tiredly. Blue hissed before trotting away.

“Rough translation, any more fighting will result in something more serious than a simple nip,” Dr. Harding’s voice called. From where Shanti was, it sounded like she was distracted by the remaining Carnotaurus, judging from the growls coming from that direction.

“Well did she have to nip so hard?” JP whined, lifting his hand to reveal the blood clotting on his hand. The other male human walked closer to have a look at the blood.

“Aww, dude. It’s not even that big. And it’s clotting already,” he said.

“So? She shouldn’t be biting!” JP snarled, wiping his bloody hand on his soft scales.

“Blue, come here,” Owen called. Shanti heard Blue muttering to herself before trotting back into view. “You two introduce yourselves and say sorry.”

Both JP and Blue looked at Owen like he had lost his mind. Owen merely said, “C’mon, get it over with.”

JP sighed and said, “I’m sorry, Blue, for...whatever I did to get you mad. I’m guessing fighting with Owen.”

Shanti watched as Blue shifted on her talons, reluctant to apologize as well. But she did, bowing her head and giving four mournful clicks.

“Good girl, Blue,” Owen said, his clicky toy in one hand and jerky in the other, which Blue snatched before walking away. Owen turned to the unnamed male and said, “Sorry I haven’t said ‘hi’ yet, Roy.”

“It’s okay, man,” the other male, Roy, chuckled. Owen and Roy did a close family greeting, wrapping their arms around each other. “JP’s just too overprotective....and a drama king.”

“Hey!” JP barked, his scent flaring up in amusement. “I’m not a drama king!”

“You so are,” Roy chuckled as Owen laughed. Shanti was now seriously confused. None of the humans were related to each other, but they acted like they were. She knew that Carnotaurs would team up to take down the larger herbivores back on the island, becoming closer than their own siblings at times. Did humans do the same thing?

“Okay, okay, boys. Mushy male bonding is done now; we have work to do,” The Regent stepped in, her scent finally taking on the dominance that she naturally was. “Roy, JP, I would like to have a talk with you later about some of the rules that we have around here. But for now, get settled, meet Shanti, and JP?”

“Yes?” JP replied. Shanti couldn’t help but grin a little as she glared at JP. JP quickly amended, “Yes, ma’am?”

“Owen said that you like to build bonfires,” The Regent drawled. JP nodded. She continued, “We need to burn a couple of bodies.”

JP grinned. “Burying some bodies would be better, ma’am.”

“We need these bodies to be ash, Marine,” The Regent said, her scent and voice becoming serious. “I don’t want a single tooth to remain. Clear?”

“Yes, ma’am,” JP said, his scent not quite submissive. Shanti knew that The Regent would change that.

“Owen can show you what needs to be burned. Maisie!” The Regent called.

“Yes, Claire?” Shanti heard the hatchling call back from by Styggy’s cage. The two had been getting closer since the young dinosaur returned from wherever she had been.

“Could you and Barry show Shanti to Roy? We’ll be right back....and I expect that monster truck to be moved, Roy,” The Regent said, giving Roy a look. The tall human ducked his head as he said, “Yes, ma’am. Not my truck though.”

“I’ll move it, don’t worry,” JP hastily reassured The Regent.

With that, The Regent gave a final nod before walking away. Shanti could hear her moving closer to The Queen before she focused on Maisie skipping over to the group of humans. Owen sighed and said, “Okay, you heard the boss. C’mon, JP, I’ll show you what needs burning. Roy, Barry and Maisie will take good care of you. Right, Maisie?”

Shanti snorted as Owen directed his attention to Maisie, parent scent overpowering anything else he was thinking. Everyone knew that Owen and The Regent had become protective of her, and any harm would mean the wrath of Blue.

“I won’t practice my sneak attacks on him,” Maisie promised with a giggle.

“Good. JP, just follow me,” Owen ordered, walking toward the living doors. JP followed while Roy stayed.

“So, uhh, Maisie right?” Roy asked nervously. Maisie turned to him and nodded. “What exactly is Shanti? Not the T-rex, I hope?”

Maisie giggled, “No, that’s Rexy. Claire takes care of her.”

“O...Kay. Is that her?” Roy asked, pointing to the Dilophosaurus across the way.

“I take care of Thrillz,” Barry said, folding his arms over his chest, amused.

“Is Shanti an herbivore?” Roy asked confused. “Like, I’m seeing the other carnivores being taken care of, but what about the herbivores?”

“Various members of the DPG take care of the more peaceful of dinosaurs,” Barry explained.

“And Shanti is a carnivore,” Maisie said, excitement making her fur swing back and forth.

“I give up. I barely remember any dinosaur trivia from _Land Before Time,_ kid. I’m old!” Roy said, a little impatient scent coming from him. Shanti growled; he wasn’t going to like taking care of her, if she allowed it.

“This is Shanti,” Maisie said, gesturing to her cage.

Roy gave her a blank look. “What?”

“This is Shanti,” Maisie said again. Roy walked up to the bars of her cage, his eyes searching before settling on her.

“What is she?” he breathed, nervousness and wonder and a touch of fear rolling into a massive scent mess.

“She’s an Allosaurus,” Barry said, walking up next to Roy. Roy ran a hand through his yellow fur.

“Goddamn. Becky’s been taking care of her?”

“Yeah. Shanti hasn’t eaten anything since Becky got taken to the hospital,” Maisie said, folding her arms and looking at Shanti sadly. Shanti growled, narrowing her eyes at them. She didn’t need their pity. There was no way that these two would be able to do anything that Becky could do better.

“And that was two days ago,” Roy said grimly. “Becky ever had to tempt her to eat before?”

“No, but she has a manual for her,” Barry said, revealing a white square with metal spirals on one side. Roy’s eyes looked like they would come out of his head. Shanti wondered why; the white square wasn’t all that thick.

“Oh my God, we are petsitting?” Roy exclaimed, taking the square and flipping through it quickly.

“Shanti is a wild animal, not a pet,” Barry said firmly.

“Becky wrote an instruction book for her and she hasn’t eaten in two days. Pet,” Roy said.

“Wild animal,” Barry growled.

“Pet.”

“Wild animal!”

“Pet!”

Scent laced with frustration, Barry growled, “Monsieur, do you really want to be smacked?”

“Only behind closed doors,” Roy said sweetly, his scent leaking amusement.

“Ewwww! Get a room!” Maisie exclaimed, amusement tinting her voice.

_“Yes, please,”_ Shanti moaned in disgust. How dare those two joke in front of the hatchling about mating habits? And worse, in front of her cage!

Roy opened his mouth to speak only to be interrupted by a bellow from upstairs, causing everyone, human and dinosaur, to snap their heads upwards.

“WHAT THE FUCKING SHIT IS THAT??”

“Looks like Owen showed JP the Indoraptor remains,” Barry said, still looking up at the ceiling.

“Indoraptor?” Roy asked curiously, also keeping his eyes on the ceiling.

“They made it, Eli Mills and Dr. Wu. It was supposed to be like a soldier or an assassin, but it was crazy and couldn’t be controlled,” Maisie said.

“And so, what? What did it in?” Roy asked.

“Blue killed it. Leapt on its back and through the roof, luckily landing on the Triceratops skull Grandpa had,” Maisie explained.

“Damn,” Roy breathed.

_“Good riddance,”_ Shanti snarled. Blue had regaled her tale of fighting the sick thing, and everyone had agreed that killed it was for the best for everyone. The smell of death from its little dark cage had lingered for dayss.

“So, Owen wants to burn it? Why?” Roy asked, confused scent telling Shanti that the two new humans would be hard to break in.

“Would you want another of that thing being made?” Dr. Harding called. Roy shifted nervously.

“No,” he answered. Shanti quickly amended her thoughts about this Roy; he hadn’t even seen the body and yet he knew that another of those things was a bad idea.

“Exactly. There can be nothing left of it when it gets burned. Scavengers have done a good job taking off the flesh, but the skeletal remains need to be turned to ash,” Barry said, finally tearing his eyes off the ceiling. “Now, how about we take a quick tour before Owen and JP get back before formally introducing you two to Shanti?”

* * *

 

Shanti watched as the humans ran around outside her cage. When JP and Owen had come back from whatever they were doing, JP moved his “monster truck,” a giant blue human vehicle that sat high on its wheels and an open bedding area in the back, farther into their home. The three humans used the living doors twice, once to go up, the next to drag something _rotten_ out. The humans were grunting and groaning as they hauled the rotten thing onto the bedding area of the “monster truck.”

This was the first time Shanti ever got a look at the creature, and even from the skeletal remains, she knew that it was a born killer. Its claws were long and sharp, and those jaws were powerful. Most of the flesh was gone, and the remaining bones were barely holding on together. How could the humans that captured them ever think that this monster was a good thing?

JP drove the monster truck out after the remains were loaded, and soon a stinky smoke could be smelled. Everyone sneezed at the smell, even the humans, and Dr. Harding marched over to the open doors and yelled, “Go easy with that gasoline! It’s stinking up in here!”

“Sorry!” JP called back.

_“I’ll make you sorry!”_ The Queen roared. Shanti agreed with her; the stench of burning rotten flesh was horrible!

“Hey, JP! While Roy keeps an eye on the bonfire, come over and meet Shanti,” Owen called from in front of her cage. “Bring that instruction manual!”

“Coming, coming!” JP called before Shanti heard him jog down the aisle. “Hey, Roy said Shanti is an Allosaurus? Shouldn’t she be pacing around right now? Why is she in that corner?”

“Becky’s her handler, and I don’t quite know what her routine is with her is. So, Shanti is upset that Becky is gone, her routine has been disrupted, and she hasn’t eaten anything since the ambulance took Becky to the hospital,” Owen explained. “Hopefully, you’ll be able to get her eating again.”

“How is my being here gonna help if she’s acting like this?” JP asked, confused scent coming from him.

“You’re Becky’s biological brother; many of these dinosaurs can tell that through scent,” Owen explained patiently.

_“Damn right we can,”_ Shanti growled. She was getting more and more uneasy about the two new humans. How could these two live up to what Becky did for her?

“Okay, okay, let’s have a look at her instructions then,” JP said, opening up the white square. “Oh Jesus, she has them indexed.”

“Seriously?” Owen laughed. “She does! ‘Morning’, ‘Lunch,’ ‘Dinner’?”

_“Dinner?”_ Blue hooted.

_“Dinner! Dinner! Dinner!”_ the Compies cried.

_“Where’s dinner?”_ squealed Trouble.

“Oh, shit, we got them going now. Sorry, guys!” Owen apologized.

All the dinosaurs moaned and roared that dinner wasn’t going on right now. Shanti didn’t care, keeping her eyes on JP as he flipped through the white square.

“Okay, here’s uh D-I-N-N-E-R. ‘Shanti gets two eggs after eating. She likes over easy or sunny side up.’ She gets eggs?” JP asked, emitting more confused scent.

Owen looked at the square over JP’s shoulder. “Huh. So that’s where all our eggs go.”

“‘Shanti likes to watch cartoons and movies. She gets first pick, but after she’s asleep you can watch whatever.’ Damn, do all the dinosaurs get special treatment like this?” JP asked, shocked. Shanti gave a little purr about how thorough her human’s instructions were.

“Not always, but I think Maisie is giving Styggy,” here Owen pointed toward the direction of Styggy’s cage, “candy, like Twizzlers and Starbursts. I don’t have hard proof yet, but it needs to be nipped in the butt soon.”

Shanti watched as JP flipped through the square, his eyes scanning all the scribbles. He seemed to be ignoring Owen, and Shanti notice Blue sneaking up on him.

“Owen, what’s the rule about Mom and any of the dogs you trained?” JP said, turning to Owen.

Owen looked at JP, his scent becoming confused. “She wasn’t allowed to watch them longer than a week. Blue, I see you!”

Shanti snorted as Blue dropped out of her play stalk. What did these dog creatures have to do with her?

“Yeah, uh huh. And the reason why is because...?” JP drawled.

“Because they would be codependent on...her...within that... time,” Owen answered, his eyes widening as he looked at Shanti.

“Our sister has turned a completely wild dinosaur into a codependent lizard!” JP nearly shouted. Shanti jerked in surprise as he slammed his head against the bars of her cage.

This was going to be an interesting time until Becky came home.

* * *

 

That night, JP entered Shanti’s cage. All of the humans were standing on the catwalks, by the other cages, or in the case of Owen, The Regent, Maisie, Barry, Franklin, Zia, and Dr. Harding, right in front of her cage. Blue and Trouble were watching as well, all silent observers. Roy was somewhere upstairs, doing something.

Shanti stared down at JP, who had picked up the carcass and stared right back. She narrowed her eyes from under her eye crests. JP smirked at her.

“I know you wanna bite me,” he drawled. “But it’s not gonna happen.”

Shanti growled, _“You’ll see what’s gonna happen when my jaws are around you.”_

JP and Shanti continued to stare each other down. Shanti shifted her legs under her, watching as JP shifted as well. She roared, launching herself at him. JP shifted to the side, and she compensated, jaws still open…only to have the carcass in her mouth.

Shanti skidded to a halt, and instinctually her jaws snapped shut. The carcass’s blood began to seep into her mouth, and she began to chew before swallowing the whole thing. JP grinned.

“Ha!” he crowed. “Humans: one! Dinosaur: zero!”

Shanti growled, not liking how she was tricked. Her stomach didn’t care, it was happy to have food. She stalked back to her corner, making sure that her tail slapped JP to the side. He fell into the bars, his head making a satisfying _clang!_ All the humans, Trouble, and Blue made noises of sympathy at the sound.

“Owwww! Ohh-hooooo!” JP groaned. “Okay, score’s all tied up now.”

_“She’s gonna be difficult for the rest of the week, isn’t she?”_ Trouble asked Blue.

_“Until Becky comes home,”_ Blue said sadly.

“You are in for a long ass week, JP,” Owen said with a grimace. JP nodded against the bars, and Shanti smirked as much as she could. That should teach him that he couldn’t trick her!

“Who won first round?” Roy’s voice called.

“I’d say a tie,” Franklin called back, amusement in his scent. Shanti sniffed the air, taking the aroma of eggs. Her jaws began to salivate unbiddenly. She swallowed reflexively. She wanted to not fall for the eggs, but it was hard. Roy appeared in front of her cage, a round metal disk with a stick in his hand. She could hear the eggs sizzling in the thing.

“Okay, Shanti,” Roy said, entering her cage. Shanti fixed a fierce snarl on her face. Roy’s scent didn’t change; he wasn’t intimidated. “You want some eggs? You want some eggs?”

Shanti growled, not liking how Roy was talking down at her like a hatchling. He had another stick in his hand, and the look on his face said that he was expecting her to open her mouth willingly. She snorted at him, trying to spray him with as much snot as possible. Humans didn’t seem to like that.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like none of her spray hit Roy. He shrugged, a smirk on his mouth. A playful scent started to reach her nose from Roy.

“Okay, looks like these eggs are for me then,” Roy sang, digging into the disk with the stick. Shanti was torn. She wanted the eggs, but she didn’t want them from Roy. Roy brought up a bit of egg up from the disk. “Okay, this egg is gonna go into my mouth…”

Shanti’s resolve broke. She opened her jaws. Roy grinned and flipped the eggs into her mouth, making sure that his hands never make it past her jaws. She closed her jaws before pressing the eggs against the roof of her mouth with her tongue. She relished the yolks oozing out and coating her tongue before swallowing the whole mess. Roy smirked and turned to the other humans.

“See? She’s a good girl,” Roy said. Shanti noticed a loose piece of loose scale on his back and quickly snatched it in her jaws. Roy yelped and ran. A tearing sound was heard, and the top portion of Roy’s soft scales now hung from her jaws. Roy panted, his back against the bars, his scale patterns on his arms and chest shaking. His scent was finally had a hint of fear.

“Okay, she’s an alright girl,” Roy shakily corrected himself. Shanti grinned to herself.

* * *

 

That evening, JP and Roy made square air nests near her cage. They played a moving picture on Becky’s opening rectangle from something called “Shanti’s Favorite Movies.” They didn’t even let her pick the moving picture. The next morning, JP and Roy did the same thing: Shanti roared, JP tossed the carcass into her mouth before she finished, Roy made her eggs (sunny side up this time), and fed them to her. They teamed up to clean her cage, complaining the whole time.

Shanti noticed that Franklin and Trouble both were staring at the two newcomers. She growled at them, and they scurried off. JP raised one of his furry eye crests at her.

“Really, girl? Scaring babies?”

Shanti snorted at him and turned her head away. JP shook his head and left her cage. Roy was already outside, flipping through Becky’s instruction manual.

“Okay, ‘After breakfast and eggs, it’s playtime. Playtime is actually training, so have meat at hand. Small chunks, now, so that you have plenty to give her. Here are the hand signals,’” Roy read. He flipped to the next square and his furry eye crests almost reached his fur. “Jesus, JP! Look at these hand signs! We might as well be learning ASL!”

“Let me see,” JP ordered, snatching the white square. He flipped through the white squares before declaring, “C’mon, man! This should be easy! We’re two former Marines! We’ve handled Humvees, roadside bombs, and Parris Island! What’s one dinosaur have on us?”

Shanti growled as JP ran past her cage to the Cold Room. A little bit later, he appeared in front of her cage, bucket in hand. She could smell the meat from it.

“Okay, first hand sign?” JP asked, placing the meat bucket on the floor.

“Umm, it’s ‘walk forward,’” Roy said. He waved his arms up, swinging toward his back.

“Okay,” JP said. He faced Shanti and did the same sign. “C’mon, Shanti! Walk forward!”

Shanti snarled at him. JP tried again. “Walk forward!”

She didn’t move. Did this human really think that she would walk for him? JP tried again.

“C’mon, girl! C’mon! Walk forward!” JP tried coaxing her, slapping his hands against his thighs. Shanti snorted before growling.

“She’s not a dog,” Barry called from the cage of Thrillz the Dilophosaurus. “She’s not going to automatically follow you.”

JP turned to Barry, and Shanti saw another opportunity to take another soft scale.

“Well, Barry, if you have any better ideas, then I’m open to suggestions,” JP snarked back. Shanti sneaked one of her claws forward, eyeing the open pouch on JP’s lower soft scales.

“Maybe, you should give her Becky’s blanket from her cot. They haven’t been washed yet, so Shanti might find it comforting to have her smell nearby,” Barry explained in a simple tone. “It might also make her more cooperative.”

Shanti’s claws were almost to the pouch. Roy had been focused on the conversation, but he turned just as her claw slipped past the bars of her cage. She could smell the fear as he yelped, “JP, look out!”

She snagged the soft scale pouch as JP was turning to see what Roy was going about. Quickly, she dragged her claw back, the ripping sound as JP jumped one way as she dragged the pouch toward her making the pouch come off of his soft scale so satisfying. The fear and anger scent that JP gave off was “the icing on the cake,” as Becky would say.

“Why? _Why_ are we the ones taking care of this brat of a dinosaur?” JP yelled.

“Because your sister asked us to; that’s why,” Roy said dryly. Shanti grinned to herself as she placed the soft scale pouch right on top of the soft scale she took from Roy the other day. A musical tone began erupting from JP, and Shanti watched as he dug out a little thin rectangle out of another pouch on his soft scales.

“At least she didn’t get the pocket with my phone in it,” he muttered darkly. A quick look at the rectangle, and he was announcing, “It’s Aunt Kathy. I’ll be back.”

With that, he touched the rectangle, silencing the tone, and placed it against his ear as he began to walk away. “Hey, Aunt Kathy. How are you doing?”

Roy watched as JP walked away before sighing. “You sure that the blankets will work?”

“It’s worth a try,” Barry replied. Roy let out a breath and said, “Okay then.”

Shanti watched as he gathered up Becky’s long soft scales from her nest. She cocked her head curiously as he entered her cage and began to place the long soft scales around her head. He placed the last one by her muzzle, and she nuzzled it, inhaling Becky’s scent and moaning. Roy backed up a little bit, watching her with caution smells, before grinning and turning to the aisle.

“It seems to be working!” he called, and Shanti saw another opportunity to take another piece of soft scale. Quickly, she snagged the loose end, right under his arm, and pulled. Roy screamed, fear scent overtaking anything else, and slipped out of his soft scale before running straight for the human sized door. He slammed the metal bar back in place before yelling, “Barry! Barry, she almost got me!”

“What?” Barry called.

“She almost got me! Grabbed my shirt and drew blood this time!” Roy hollered, glaring at Shanti while having a hand on his ribs.

“Hold on, hold on. Let me see,” Barry commanded. Shanti shook her head, flopping the soft scale around her jaws. Roy was still hopping around, his hand clasped over where she had grabbed his soft scale. Barry appeared next to him, the soft scale for his mouth around his neck and the eye scales over his shiny head. The older human moved Roy’s hand and inspected the red line on his side.

_“Oops,”_ Shanti growled. One of her teeth must have snagged Roy’s side as she grabbed the soft scale. Barry looked at it said, “Just a scratch. Get some alcohol and antibacterial cream on it and it should be fine.”

“Think she’s trying to eat us,” Roy muttered, fear and anger scents coming from him.

“If she was trying to eat you, you wouldn’t be standing here,” Barry said gravely. Shanti shook the soft scale again in agreement.

“I really wanna yell at her, but I know that won’t do me any good while she’s in there,” Roy growled, frustration scent overcoming the fear.

“At least you know what _not_ to do,” The Regent said suddenly, carrying something sharp smelling. Shanti sneezed at the smell as The Regent opened the thing up and poured a clear liquid onto a white fluffy thing. She began to wipe at the scratch with the white fluffy thing, and Roy hissed through his teeth. He didn’t say anything though, and The Regent finished up with a round thing of white goo.

“Thanks,” Roy said, respect scent coming from him. Shanti snorted. He should be respecting her as well! She was bigger and stronger than them! And they weren’t even using their brains to try and outsmart her! Becky always used her mind to gain Shanti’s respect; that’s why she never tried to eat her after that first day.

Shanti shook the soft scale again, just as JP skidded to a stop in front of her cage.

“Where’s Owen?” he panted, his scent filled with panic. Shanti stared at him, Roy’s soft scale still in her jaws. Why did he need Owen?

“He’s doing inventory with some of the DPG, why?” The Regent replied, curiosity scent coming from everyone.

“Can someone get him down here? Aunt Kathy has officially gone off her rocker,” JP explained, his panic scent not fading. The Regent grabbed the squawk box at her waist and spoke into it.

“Owen. JP is freaking out about someone named Aunt Kathy?”

The squawk box spoke in Owen’s voice, “Coming down.”

Shanti heard Owen’s footsteps pounding the metal of the catwalk as he raced down the stairs and skidded to a stop.

“What did Kathy want?” Owen panted, eyes wide. Shanti didn’t understand; what was so scary about an Aunt Kathy? Was she another Tyrannosaur?

“She wants to host a party soon, a homecoming/family reunion/birthday party thing. On the day that Becky is scheduled to be released from the hospital,” JP began.

“Well, we won’t be able to make it; we’ve got to take care of these guys,” Owen said, swinging his arms around, motioning to the dinosaurs.

“She wants to host it here,” JP blurted out. Everyone stared at him. Shanti wanted to know what a party was and why JP was objecting to having such a thing.

“What?” The Regent gasped, horror scent coming from her. The Queen rumbled, _“What’s wrong, my Regent?”_

“We can’t have a party here! Someone would get eaten!” The Regent cried. Shanti heard The Queen snort.

_“And that’s not a good thing for us?”_ She growled. Shanti had to agree; hunting at this party thing would be most excellent.

“Did you tell her that there were live dinosaurs here?” Roy yelped.

“Yes, I did! She just kept jabbering on about statues and animatronics! I called her three times to try and explain that we have live dinosaurs and that she needed to stop putting all her faith into the news, but it just went one ear and out the other!” JP ran his hands through his head fur before making fists around it. Shanti was a little concerned that JP would pull his fur out; his stress scent was overwhelming everything else.

Suddenly, JP’s soft scales began to make a different tone. He dug around in one of his soft scale pouches before dragging out the singing rectangle. He pressed the rectangle and put it up to his ear.

“Mom, did Aunt Kathy call you too?....No, I wasn’t _trying_ to be rude, I was trying to explain that we _don’t_ have animatronics here!....Uh huh....Yeah....What do you think our chances are of changing Aunt Kathy’s mind?....Ahhh, damn....We’ll have precautions set up....Yeah.... _Yes,_ there are really live dinosaurs here, Ma.....Yeah...Yeah....See you in a couple of days....Love you too.....Bye.” He took the singing rectangle from his ear and looked at Owen. His scent was all but resigned. Shanti thought it was because this party was going to happen no matter what.

“Your phone is going to be going off the hook soon too,” he said grimly. Shanti nearly jumped out of her scales when Owen began to make tones as well, dropping Roy’s soft scale. She could hear Blue trotting over to her human as he dug out another singing rectangle and pressed the screen.

“Hey, Lauren....Yes, we have a fire pit....Aunt Kathy put you and Rachel in charge of fun things for the kids?...Marshmallows are always good....No, we don’t have animatronics or statues here....Yep, they’re alive....Well, Aunt Kathy is the matriarch, she’s not gonna change her mind....We’ll have rules and precautions for the kids, yeah....Technically only one, but one of the babies keeps getting out and we just gave up on containing her.....Yeah, the baby’s friendly....The other is a raptor that I had raised since her hatching.....Blue, yeah....Thanks, Lauren....Okay.....We’ll see you in a couple of days.....Yeah, can you kick in the grapevine so that everyone else understands that we have real dinosaurs here?.....Awesome....See you then...Bye-Bye.” This time, it was Owen who took his singing rectangle away from his ear and jabbed it with a finger.

_“Sounds like this party thing is happening,”_ Shanti growled. All the other dinosaurs agreed, excited and nervous about what a party was.

“How doomed are we?” Roy asked. Shanti snorted as JP’s singing rectangle began another tone.

“From the looks of it, we’re up shit creek without a paddle,” The Regent said grimly, an unhappy scent coming from her. Blue rubbed her muzzle against her shoulder and received a pat on the neck. Shanti couldn’t help but feel like maybe this party thing was going to be annoying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let this be a warning: misbehaving means that you get to be written as a character. Yep, some of the characters here are based on family members.

**Author's Note:**

> Love it? Hate it? Let me know!


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